IT's Research Computing Support Group
IT's Research Computing Support Group (RCSG) provides computing assistance to researchers across the campus, including managing and operating Rice's supercomputers. Every Rice faculty or staff member has access to shared large-scale high productivity computing power at no cost with the Shared University Grid @ Rice (SUG@R), an Intel Xeon-based cluster. Each Rice employee also has access to the Cray XD1 AMD (Ada), an Opteron-based cluster. These clusters were purchased by the Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology (K2I) with NSF MRI awards. For more information about K2I, please visit the K2I website.
As for Linux support, Rice University has more Redhat Certified Architects than any other U.S. university. Certification for the architect level includes eight comprehensive exams and there are fewer than 275 Redhat Certified Architects worldwide (May 2009). Most universities have no Redhat Certified Architects and a few universities have one. IT's RCSG team has two architects, and an additional RCSG staff member has completed seven of the eight exams for the architect's certification.
Finally, two team members, the team manager, and the director of the K2I are TeraGrid Campus Champions and have received extensive training in use of the TeraGrid for large-scale research projects.
The RCSG provides the following types of support for research computing activities:
SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION
Research systems that meet specific supportability criteria and are dedicated to the research mission at Rice University may be managed by the RCSG. If you are considering asking IT to support new hardware in any way, you must contact IT about your research computational needs before purchasing any system. To inquire about this service, please contact Kim Andrews, Manager of Research Computing, via email or at x5726.
APPLICATION SUPPORT
The RCSG will support applications required to pursue research objectives on RCSG-managed systems. Support may include porting, profiling and optimizing code.
USER SUPPORT AND EDUCATION
The RCSG will provide user education to help customers maximize their productivity on RCSG-managed systems. This will include hands-on workshops and tutorials on topics such as Using RCSG Resources, Introduction to Parallel Computing, Profilers, Debuggers, Compilers, and so on.
DATA MANAGEMENT
The RCSG will manage all aspects of user storage needs in collaboration with other IT departments. The group will publish security policies and disaster recovery plans for all RCSG-managed systems.
LINUX BEST PRACTICES
The RCSG group currently maintains the base Linux system image and best practices that are used campus-wide for installing Red Hat Enterprise Linux on desktop workstations. The RCSG participates in generating technical specifications and recommendations for Rice's Linux hardware. The group also maintains the facilities that allow Linux desktop systems to receive updates nightly. For more information about Linux best practices, installation, and FAQs, please see the Linux Support web site. For assistance with the installation of Linux on a desktop workstation, please contact the Help Desk.
