Allocations

What is an allocation, and do I need one?

An allocation is a dedicated portion of the CHPC's resources (in total compute time) that is granted to a specific research group for a defined period of time.

At the CHPC, allocations are measured in wall clock CPU core or GPU hours, which is 1 hour of wall clock time for each CPU core or (number of) GPU(s) allocated. In other words, the unit of an allocation is the product of the number of resources consumed (CPU cores or number of GPUs) and the time for which they were consumed. For more details, see our HPC Allocation Policy.

Allocations are required to work on CHPC-owned nodes for the following resouces:

• Granite, Notchpeak, + Redwood CPU resources
• Granite GPU resources

Note: CPU resources are unallocated on the Kingspeak and Lonepeak clusters. In addition, GPU resources are unallocated on the Notchpeak, Kingspeak, and Granite clusters. This means that an allocation is not required to use these resources.

CHPC awards allocations based on allocation request proposals. All allocation requests must be submitted by a CHPC PI or designated delegate. To specify a delegate, the CHPC PI should email helpdesk@chpc.utah.edu and provide the name and uNID of the user they wish to have allocation delegate rights. An allocation applies to all allocated clusters within an environment, meaning that an allocation in the General Environment can be used on both notchpeak and granite, and there is no need to apply separately for each cluster.

However, a separate application is required for use of the General Environment and the Protected Environment.

Allocations are awarded to CHPC PIs and access to the allocation is made available to all members of the PI's group. Jobs from groups with allocation run at a higher priority and can preempt jobs running without allocation on CHPC-owned (general) resources. Allocations are managed on a calendar quarter and any allocation remaining at the end of a given allocation quarter is not carried over to the next quarter.

Note: The allocation of the GPUs includes the associated CPUs on that GPU node, so one does not need to request CPU allocation when only requesting GPU allocation.

 

There are two kinds of allocation requests that one can make:

• Small allocation request, available immediately for a maximum of 30,000 CPU core hours and/or 300 GPU hours. You can request solely for the current quarter or the current quarter plus the upcoming 3 quarters.
• Regular allocation request, available at the start of the next quarter for a maximum of 300,000 CPU core hours and/or 3,000 GPU hours. Applications must be submitted within the application window (details below) and allocation can be requested for up to 4 quarters at a time.

Small Allocation Process

Small allocations are meant for PIs who are new to having a CHPC allocation or do not need a large amount of compute resources. PIs may submit a small allocation request at any time through the CHPC Portal for a maximum of 30,000 CPU core hours and/or 300 GPU hours per quarter for up to three quarters plus the current quarter. Small allocations are immediately reviewed by CHPC staff and awarded at the CHPC's discretion.

You may submit a small allocation request through the CHPC Portal. You can log in by clicking the "Login" button on the CHPC Portal, choosing "University of Utah" as the Identity Provider, and clicking "Log On" on the CILogon page.

SUBMIT A SMALL ALLOCATION REQUEST ON THE CHPC PORTAL

Regular Allocation Process

Regular allocations are meant for PIs who have an understanding of the number of compute resources required by their research per quarter and have the ability to justify this need. The current maximum award is 300,000 CPU core hours and 3,000 GPU hours per quarter. This is currently independent of the GPU type, though we are exploring the possibility of weighting time on GPUs by specifications such as global memory or throughput.

You can submit a regular allocation request through the CHPC Portal. Regular allocation requests can be made on a quarterly basis, with application and allocation windows according to the following schedule:

• Winter:  Application Window: November 1 - December 1. Allocation available:  January 1 - March 31
• Spring:  Application Window: February 1 - March 1. Allocation available:  April 1 - June 30
• Summer:  Application Window: May 1 - June 1. Allocation available: July 1 - September 30
• Fall:  Application Window: August 1 - September 1. Allocation available:  October 1 - December 31

Note: The application window is a hard deadline for a regular allocation request to be submitted, meaning that if the last day to submit is December 1st (i.e. for the winter quarter), the CHPC will not accept proposals made after December 1st.

Any allocation remaining at the end of a given allocation quarter is not carried over to the next quarter.

PIs are asked to submit a request for the four upcoming calendar quarters. Your allocation request will then need to be renewed the following year by submitting another request. If you find your allocation amount needs to be adjusted, you can submit a new request to replace your existing request at any allocation cycle during the year.

Please fill out the allocation request form completely. All Regular Allocation proposals are reviewed by the CHPC Allocation Committee. The committee needs to see your justification for the amount of allocation you have requested. If there is little to no allocation justification, you may not receive the amount of allocation you requested.

If you are new to the allocation process, feel free to take a look at this Sample Application. It is good to have a track record using our systems via the small allocation. Be sure to list your sources of funding, including granting agency and grant/contract numbers. It is also important to let us know of publications resulting from work supported by CHPC. This information is critical to us as it helps us continue to support the computation research community. The more you succeed, the more we succeed. Our mission to to help you get your research done!

For more information, see the HPC Allocation Policy.

You may submit a regular allocation request through the CHPC Portal for allocations on all CHPC clusters. You can log in by clicking the "Login" button on the CHPC Portal, then choosing "University of Utah" as the Identity Provider and clicking "Log On" on the CILogon page.

SUBMIT A REGULAR ALLOCATION REQUEST ON THE CHPC PORTAL