The CARC is pleased to announce its new Condo Cluster Program (CCP), offering greater flexibility for researchers who prefer to have access to their own dedicated compute nodes.
Nodes subscribed to or purchased through the CCP form the Endeavour condo cluster, which is a new high-performance computing cluster designated specifically for the CCP. CCP users will enjoy the same advanced computing capabilities, fast speeds, and software stack that the Discovery cluster offers. Endeavour was installed and deployed two weeks ago, and existing condo nodes from the old HPC cluster have been migrated to it.
Logging in
Endeavour uses a different login node than the Discovery cluster. You must use endeavour.usc.edu to access your condo nodes on the Endeavour cluster. Otherwise, Endeavour is very similar to the Discovery cluster. You will have access to the same file systems (home1, project, and scratch 1&2) and the same software stack. See the Getting Started with the Endeavour Condo Cluster user guide for more information. Most user guides on our website will still be applicable to the Endeavour cluster.
Requesting Resources (for PIs)
Prior to the development of the new CCP, PIs could purchase dedicated compute nodes (“condo nodes”) using a traditional purchase model, which specified a five-year service term for the chosen nodes, after which the nodes would be retired. This pricing model remains, but the CCP also now includes an annual subscription pricing model. PIs can subscribe to their desired nodes on an annual basis, choosing either to renew, modify, or terminate their subscription each year. In both models, PIs have access to nodes that are completely dedicated for their own jobs, without the job limits and resource restrictions that the nodes in the general-use Discovery cluster have.
Purchases and subscriptions can now be requested and managed in the CARC user portal, much like Discovery and storage allocations. Subscriptions are requested in the same way as Discovery and storage allocations (see the Request New Allocation user guide for instructions). Purchases are requested via a new purchase form on the Condo Purchase Requests page, under the “Project” tab (see the Request New Condo Purchase user guide for instructions).
Nodes subscribed to or purchased through the CCP form the Endeavour condo cluster, which is a new high-performance computing cluster designated specifically for the CCP. CCP users will enjoy the same advanced computing capabilities, fast speeds, and software stack that the Discovery cluster offers.
We recommend that you explore the following links to learn more about the CCP:
Condo Cluster Program Information Overview
Getting Started with the Endeavour Condo Cluster
CCP Subscription Pricing Model
How to request a new condo purchase in the CARC user portal
How to request a new condo subscription allocation in the CARC user portal
This is only a starting point for the new Condo Cluster Program. In the coming months, we will announce more features and upgrades for the Endeavour cluster. Make sure to follow us on Twitter and subscribe to the CARC newsletter to stay up-to-date!
If you have any questions about the new Condo Cluster Program, please contact the CARC team at carc-condo@usc.edu.