Computing Resources
The CS Dept. deploys general purpose compute and GPU compute servers, as well as specialized GPU servers, all running Linux. We also have database, NX/Nomachine (remote Linux desktop), a Windows desktop server, and dedicated servers for developing and running Apptainer containers. This section describes the general use and research use servers (see other sections for database and other server information).
portal load balanced servers
The portal servers are general purpose servers, running Linux, into which anyone can login. They are available for general use. They are also the “jump off” point for off Grounds connections to the CS network. The servers are in a load balanced cluster, and are accessed through ssh to portal.cs.virginia.edu. See: The portal cluster
Use these servers to code, compile, test, etc.. However these are not meant for long running processes that will use excessive resources. Computationally expensive processes should be run on other servers listed below.
(all GPU, Memory, CPU, etc. counts are per node).
| Hostname | Memory (GB) | CPU Type | CPUs | Cores/CPU | Threads/Core | Total Cores |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| portal[01-12] | 132-256 | Intel | 1 | 8 | 2 | 16 |
GPU servers
The gpusrv* servers are general purpose servers, running Linux, that contain GPUs into which anyone can login (via 'ssh'). They are intended for code development, testing, and short computations. Long running computations are discouraged, and are better suited to one of the GPU servers controlled by the job scheduler (see the SLURM section below).
(all GPU, Memory, CPU, etc. counts are per node).
| Hostname | Memory (GB) | CPU Type | CPUs | Cores/CPU | Threads/Core | Total Cores | GPUs | GPU Type | GPU RAM (GB) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gpusrv[01-02,04-08] | 256 | Intel | 1 | 10 | 2 | 20 | 4 | Nvidia RTX 2080Ti | 11 |
| gpusrv03 | 256 | Intel | 1 | 10 | 2 | 20 | 3 | Nvidia RTX 2080Ti | 11 |
| gpusrv[09-16] | 512 | Intel | 2 | 10 | 2 | 40 | 4 | Nvidia RTX 4000 | 8 |
| gpusrv[17-18] | 128 | Intel | 1 | 10 | 2 | 20 | 4 | Nvidia RTX 2080Ti | 11 |
| gpusrv19 | 128 | Intel | 2 | 20 | 2 | 80 | 4 | Nvidia RTX 2080Ti | 11 |
Apptainer servers
The Apptainer servers, running Linux, allow users to instantiate and test containers. Once a user uses 'ssh' to login to the server, the user will execute module load apptainer to make the Apptainer container software available. Note that nodes available through the SLURM job scheduler will also allow general users to build and run Apptainer containers.
(all GPU, Memory, CPU, etc. counts are per node).
| Hostname | Memory (GB) | CPU Type | CPUs | Cores/CPU | Threads/Core | Total Cores |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| apptainer01 | 256 | Intel | 2 | 10 | 2 | 40 |
| apptainer02 | 64 | Intel | 1 | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| apptainer03 | 20 | Intel | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
Nodes controlled by the SLURM Job Scheduler
Servers controlled by the job scheduler are running Linux and are available by submitting a job through the SLURM job scheduler. They are not available for direct logins via 'ssh'. However, users can login to these servers without a job script. See the main page about (SLURM) for more information on interactive jobs.
Per CS Dept. policy, servers are placed into the SLURM job scheduling queues and are available for general use. Also, per that policy, if a user in a research group that originally purchased the hardware requires exclusive use of that hardware, they can be given a reservation for that exclusive use for a specified time. Otherwise, the systems are open for use by anyone with a CS account. This policy was approved by the CS Dept. Computing Committee comprised of CS Faculty.
This policy allows servers to be used when the project group is not using them. So instead of sitting idle and consuming power and cooling, other Dept. users can benefit from the use of these systems.
See our main article on (SLURM) for more information about available resources.
Group specific computing resources
Several groups in CS deploy servers that are used exclusively by that group. Approximately 40 servers are deployed in this fashion, ranging from traditional CPU servers to specialized servers containing GPU accelerators.
Apptainer Servers
See our main article on Apptainer for more information.
The Apptainer servers, hostnames apptainer[01-03], are currently available to all department members. Apptainer containers can also be created and run on SLURM nodes.