NCSA Allocations and Access to NCSA HPC Systems

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1. The Allocation Process
2. Connecting to NCSA Systems
1. NCSA HPC Systems
2. Archival Storage System
3. Access Methods

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1. The Allocation Process

NCSA supports high-performance computing resources that are allocated to eligible principal investigators through a peer-review process. To best serve the needs of all users, XSEDE employs a multi-tiered allocations process. Details on the allocations process, eligibility requirements for principal investigators, the application process for the allocation levels, and the proposal deadlines are located on the XSEDE Allocations page.

Information for local users (non XSEDE) of NCSA resources is available at the NCSA Allocations page.

2. Connecting to NCSA Systems

There are four methods of access to NCSA resources:

GSI-SSH with grid credential authentication (Default for XSEDE Users)
XSEDE users receive a XSEDE wide LoginID and Password to access XSEDE resources via the XSEDE User Portal (XUP).

SSH with NCSA Kerberos password (Default for Non-XSEDE Users)
Non XSEDE users receive a NCSA LoginID and Kerberos password that will allow them to access NCSA production resources directly from their local machines via their own local ssh clients.
Note:  XSEDE users may request a NCSA Kerberos password by sending email to the XSEDE Helpdesk or submitting a consulting ticket form on the XSEDE Helpdesk webpage.

SSH with Key Pairs and Passphrase (Initial access via XUP or Site Password required)
SSH Keys can be setup by both XSEDE and Non-XSEDE users. After generating a public ssh key on a local machine, the user must copy that key to the target resource (machine) using the XUP or Site Password. Linux/Mac users can find general directions on creating ssh keys here, while Windows users will need to consult their SSH client documentation.

Secure FTP client (GridFTP)
Provides file management (listing, moving,transfer, deletion, etc...) using the same login information provided to you as a XSEDE or Non-XSEDE user.

2.1 NCSA HPC Systems

NCSA users can connect to NCSA HPC systems by establishing a secure login session, by using a Secure Shell (SSH) program with or without Grid Credentials supplied by a XSEDE-approved Certificate Authority. SSH is a network protocol that allows data to be exchanged over a secure channel between two computers. SSH is typically used to log into a remote machine and execute commands, but it also supports tunneling, forwarding arbitrary TCP ports and X11 connections, as well as transfer files using the associated secure file copy program (SCP) and a secure FTP program (SFTP). The majority of all current Linux/Unix distributions come with a ssh client by default.

Computing Systems	Hostnames	Access Methods
Ember [SGI Altix UV]	ember.ncsa.illinois.edu	ssh, scp, sftp, gsissh, gsiscp, gsisftp, uberftp, globus-url-copy
Forge [Dell NVIDIA Linux Cluster]	forge.ncsa.illinois.edu login-forge.ncsa.xsede.org	ssh, scp, sftp, gsissh, gsiscp, gsisftp, uberftp, globus-url-copy

2.2 Archival Storage System

NCSA's Mass Storage System (MSS) can be accessed via the same interfaces that are available on the NCSA's production compute resources. Access to MSS from an NCSA computing resource can be performed using the NCSA's msscmd and mssftp commands. The MSS page has additional information.

Users can access MSS directly from their local resouce using a ssh client. Access via grid enabled ssh/ftp clients, continue to be supported.

Archival Storage System	Hostnames	Access Methods
MSS [Mass Storage System]	mss.ncsa.uiuc.edu mss.ncsa.teragrid.org	ssh, scp, sftp, gsissh, gsiscp, gsisftp, uberftp, globus-url-copy, mssftp, msscmd

2.3 Access Methods

There are a variety of SSH based and GridFTP clients for connecting to and transfering data on NCSA resources. Please see this software table for a non-exhaustive list of the clients that can be used to access NCSA resources.