User Administration
This page provides details on usage reports and how to access them, fees related to the HPC Cluster and sciCORE+, as well as the responsibilities of the team members before leaving sciCORE.
Info
Should you need instructions on how to get an account, olease refer to the “Getting Started” section page.
Usage reports¶
All sciCORE user groups receive a monthly usage report. These are sent by default as PDFs by email to the PI of the group and can be sent to other designated persons within the group on request.
The reports provide details about the group’s usage of sciCORE storage and compute infrastructure per user and project within the group. Further, these reports also include an analysis of “cluster usage efficiency” - essentially, which fraction of the requested compute time was actively used for computing.
Low efficiency rates generally indicate potential for refactoring of workflows which can reduce costs and increase time to completion of compute jobs. The sciCORE team can provide consulting for these refactoring efforts.
Fees¶
sciCORE is subsidized by the University of Basel and the SIB (Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics) in the form of partial coverage of hardware costs and salaries of the team.
User fees distribute costs among groups that heavily use the service, encourage responsible use of the resources, and allow contributions to sciCORE services through third party funders. This structure allows sciCORE to provide basic infrastructure, training, and consulting without cost. Only services beyond this baseline are subject to usage fees.
Fees are adjusted occasionally to reflect changing hardware prices and budgetary constraints. The currently valid fees are published on the sciCORE website.
Leaving sciCORE¶
It is important to be aware of data management responsibilities and processes when a university-associated collaborator leaves the university (i.e. researchers, guest scientists, etc).
Collaborator’s responsibilities before leaving:
| Procedure |
|---|
| 1. REVIEW - The collaborator should review the data he/she owns on the sciCORE storage systems |
| 2. CLEAN - Delete temporary and unnecessary intermediate files, see “Guidelines for Storage Cleaning” |
| 3. PRESERVE - Transfer research data that need to be preserved eg in the GROUP directory, or in Deep Storage |
After the collaborator has left:
| Procedure |
|---|
| 1. TRANSFER OWNERSHIP - sciCORE transfers ownership of files of the collaborator to the group |
| 2. REVIEW - New owner reviews remaining data, deciding what has to be preserved and deleting the rest |
| 3. PRESERVE - Saves the remaining data of the collaborator (e.g. his/her home directory) by moving to the GROUP directory, or sending to Deep Storage |
When a group leader leaves the University of Basel:
There are two main options to be agreed upon between the group leader and their department’s management:
- If the group is retired/dismantled:
- The group data are transferred to Deep Storage, and the incurring storage costs will be covered by the University of Basel up to 1‘000 CHF per year
- Costs exceeding 1‘000 CHF per year, will be charged to the corresponding department
- Alternatively, data can be transferred to another active group at the University of Basel
- If the PI relocates:
- A contract is established between the group leader and the university of Basel guaranteeing that the data generated at University of Basel will remain accessible under the conditions of the Research Integrity in the new organization
Warning
If a group leaves the University without clarifying the end-of-life data management process, the default procedure is to transfer data to Deep Storage with storage costs covered by the University of Basel up to 1‘000 CHF per year. Costs exceeding 1‘000 CHF per year will be charged to the corresponding department. Data in deep storage will be deleted 5 years after upload unless an alternative end date is communicated by the department.
Note
A request to delete a research group directory earlier than the 5 years period required by the integrity policy must be approved (signed) by the Head of the Department (or its Geschäftsführer).