UPDATED 7/10 - June 2023: Summer Announcements & Important Dates
D
Dori Sajdak
started a topic
10 months ago
Dear CCR Users,
We hope you are enjoying your summer so far! Over the next few months, we will be working hard to put into production many large infrastructure changes we’ve been planning and testing this year. The new data center core switch we ordered over one year ago has finally arrived and the process to migrate to it is underway. We have other network upgrades going on that should be transparent to you but will provide better flexibility, security, and performance for the center. With the sunsetting of CentOS 7 we will be rolling out a new operating system on the compute nodes in a phased approach and will send more details on that soon. Finally, we’re excited to announce a large purchase of compute nodes has been made for the UB-HPC cluster which will go into production later this summer (if there are no vendor supply issues!). If you’re a PI and interested in purchasing your own compute nodes, the deadline for requesting quotes is June 15. More details can be found here: https://www.buffalo.edu/ccr/support/research_facilities/faculty-research-clusters/node-big-buy-pw.html (faculty/staff login required)
Downtime Date Changes
In order to accommodate summer workshops, conferences, and the start of the fall semester, we are changing some of the summer maintenance downtime dates from the regularly scheduled last Tuesday of the month. These are the dates for the upcoming maintenance windows:
June 27 as planned
Combining July & August downtimes to one 2 day CENTERWIDE DOWNTIME August 8-9
New Software Infrastructure
CCR’s new software infrastructure was released in January. Software in /util is no longer being supported. All new users should be using the new software modules (https://docs.ccr.buffalo.edu/en/latest/software/modules/) and existing users should be migrating their workflows to this environment. Software in /util will be decommissioned this fall.
A new version of OnDemand is coming this summer which will include the new software modules.
Teaching a class this fall?
If you’re teaching a class during the fall semester, please ensure that you’re using the new modules. All new accounts created after August 1 may no longer have access to the old software environment. If you need a project directory for your class to install software, please request an allocation in ColdFront (https://coldfront.ccr.buffalo.edu). If you’ve never taught a class using CCR resources, please submit a request to CCR Help (ccr-help@buffalo.edu) prior to August 1 to discuss your class size, software needs, and compute requirements. CCR is primarily a research resource; please do not assume that we will be able to accommodate your course’s needs. If you require software for your course, please view our software installation policy: https://docs.ccr.buffalo.edu/en/latest/policies/support/#software-installation-policy
All requests for software installations for the fall semester must be received by August 1!
We always try our best to keep downtimes to a minimum and our help desk response times short, but some of the work we’re doing this year is a balancing act. Moving to a whole new setup while keeping as much available to you as possible is challenging. One colleague says “it’s like changing the tires on a car going 50mph” so we greatly appreciate your patience with us!
Dori Sajdak
Dear CCR Users,
We hope you are enjoying your summer so far! Over the next few months, we will be working hard to put into production many large infrastructure changes we’ve been planning and testing this year. The new data center core switch we ordered over one year ago has finally arrived and the process to migrate to it is underway. We have other network upgrades going on that should be transparent to you but will provide better flexibility, security, and performance for the center. With the sunsetting of CentOS 7 we will be rolling out a new operating system on the compute nodes in a phased approach and will send more details on that soon. Finally, we’re excited to announce a large purchase of compute nodes has been made for the UB-HPC cluster which will go into production later this summer (if there are no vendor supply issues!). If you’re a PI and interested in purchasing your own compute nodes, the deadline for requesting quotes is June 15. More details can be found here: https://www.buffalo.edu/ccr/support/research_facilities/faculty-research-clusters/node-big-buy-pw.html (faculty/staff login required)
Downtime Date Changes
In order to accommodate summer workshops, conferences, and the start of the fall semester, we are changing some of the summer maintenance downtime dates from the regularly scheduled last Tuesday of the month. These are the dates for the upcoming maintenance windows:
New Software Infrastructure
CCR’s new software infrastructure was released in January. Software in /util is no longer being supported. All new users should be using the new software modules (https://docs.ccr.buffalo.edu/en/latest/software/modules/) and existing users should be migrating their workflows to this environment. Software in /util will be decommissioned this fall.
We are accepting requests for software installations following these instructions: https://docs.ccr.buffalo.edu/en/latest/software/building/#software-build-requests
You may install your own software following these instructions: https://docs.ccr.buffalo.edu/en/latest/software/building/#building-your-own-software
A new version of OnDemand is coming this summer which will include the new software modules.
Teaching a class this fall?
If you’re teaching a class during the fall semester, please ensure that you’re using the new modules. All new accounts created after August 1 may no longer have access to the old software environment. If you need a project directory for your class to install software, please request an allocation in ColdFront (https://coldfront.ccr.buffalo.edu). If you’ve never taught a class using CCR resources, please submit a request to CCR Help (ccr-help@buffalo.edu) prior to August 1 to discuss your class size, software needs, and compute requirements. CCR is primarily a research resource; please do not assume that we will be able to accommodate your course’s needs. If you require software for your course, please view our software installation policy: https://docs.ccr.buffalo.edu/en/latest/policies/support/#software-installation-policy
All requests for software installations for the fall semester must be received by August 1!
We always try our best to keep downtimes to a minimum and our help desk response times short, but some of the work we’re doing this year is a balancing act. Moving to a whole new setup while keeping as much available to you as possible is challenging. One colleague says “it’s like changing the tires on a car going 50mph” so we greatly appreciate your patience with us!
Have a great summer!
CCR IT Staff