HPC

Why would you use High Performance Computing?

How do you know if you would benefit from access to a High Performance Computing environment?

You are running computations on your local computer and it takes a long time to complete
Your analysis requires large memory or storage
You need specialised technologies such as GPUs or high speed connections between compute nodes to complete your work
Someone recommended that High Performance Computing may be a better option for you
You have the same calculation to run 100's of times

Griffith Researchers have access to a number of HPC options including the locally hosted Gowonda HPC which is free for all researchers and HDR (Higher Degree by Research) students.

There are also national platforms such as NCI and Pawsey that are available through competitive merit-based processes as well as commercial options that can be paid for from project funds.

What's Next?

An account is required to use Griffith's HPC. Apply for an account using the form. Further help is below.

Create HPC Account

Getting Started With Griffith HPC

Now that you've got your Griffith HPC account you can have a read through the following guide and workshop material to get started on Griffith’s HPC . There are also workshops that are held throughout the year that go through this guide. For more information on any workshop dates check out the Hacky Hour website.

HPC Workshop Guide

The User Documentation confluence pages will supply detailed information and they act as a wiki for the Griffith HPC .

HPC User Guide

Which HPC Service Is Best For Me?

The Griffith HPC would be a great first choice. If your application/code is getting too large to run on your computer, then the first point of call is Griffith’s HPC. It is an excellent choice for those that have never used a HPC before. If you consider the Griffith HPC the choice for you, you can follow the getting started section for more information.

QCIF machines are available to researchers across all scientific fields and disciplines but are most commonly used in the areas of engineering, medicine, manufacturing and resource management.

HPC and research support services are available to all QCIF member staff and HDR students and are designed to enhance research outcomes and productivity in the following areas:

High-speed computation, include the use of high-performance supercomputing system.s
Visualisation tools that allow scientific, engineering and other data sets to be transformed into 2D/#D visual representations.
Programming support for research applications, including code parallelisation and optimisation.
Statistics and data modelling.

Visit QCIF's Compute page on the QRISCloud website.

The National Computational Merit Allocation Scheme (NCMAS) provides researchers with access to Australia’s major national computational facilities, including Raijin. The main call for applications is made annually in October for allocations to start the following January for up to 12 months.

Information about NCI’s HPC’s are available on their website including specifications of their system hardware.

Australia’s national research computing service, the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI), supplies world-class, high-end services to Australia’s researchers, the primary goals of which are to raise the ambition, impact, and outcomes of Australian research through access to advanced, computational, and data-intensive methods, support, and high-performance infrastructure.

Getting Started At NCI

The Pawsey Supercomputing Centre operates multiple supercomputers, data-intensive machines and storage systems that use the most advanced technologies available. The Pawsey Supercomputing Centre supports researchers in Western Australia and across the nation with an array of capabilities encompassing supercomputing, data and visualisation services.

To gain access to the resources of the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre, to find out about training or to receive help with an issue, please visit the Pawsey User Support

Please contact us if you would like to apply.

Pawsey HPC

National Merit Allocation Scheme

Using AI?

If you're looking into using AI for your project, you can view the following page for additional information!

AI Technology

Support and Guidance

The eResearch team are happy to provide support at any stage of your HPC journey. Topics that we also offer support for but aren't listed on this site include:

Job scheduling and resource allocation advice
Parallel programming support: offering guidance and assistance in optimizing code for parallel computing architectures.
Windows Virtual Machines and their set-up
Any questions you may have about topics not currently listed

Contact Us today for HPC support and guidance.