Grant Assistance#
Contact RCC
Please contact help-rcc@mcw.edu to determine if you have the computing resources necessary for your proposal.
Below are descriptions of RCC services that can be used when preparing the resources section of grant proposals. Please feel free to copy relevant portions of this text.
Overview#
The MCW Research Computing Center (RCC) is a division within MCW Information Services. RCC provides campus-wide access to high performance computing (HPC) resources required for computationally-intensive biomedical research. RCC is institutionally supported and available to all MCW students, staff, and faculty. RCC services and operations are governed by representatives of the MCW Faculty in partnership with RCC leadership.
High Performance Computing#
The High Performance Computing (HPC) environment includes 70 computational nodes, 3360 processor cores, 29.3 TB of memory, and 32 graphical processing units (GPUs). The nodes are interconnected by 100 Gb/s Ethernet, allowing efficient parallel computing for both CPU and GPU intensive workloads. Job submission and scheduling is controlled by the Simple Linux Utility for Resource Management (SLURM). SLURM is an open-source HPC scheduling system that automates job submission, controls resource access, and maintains fair use of all systems. Each compute node includes a standardized operating system image, set of compilers, math libraries, and system software. RCC also supports a variety of open-source software and containerized workloads are supported.
Restricted HPC#
Restricted HPC (ResHPC) is a secure way to access and utilize the HPC cluster. It is specifically designed with security enhancements for restricted datasets that have a defined Data Use Agreement (DUA), including dbGaP projects. The ResHPC service is built on the existing HPC cluster, but incorporates a separate, secure login method, and project specific accounts and directories.
Data Storage#
The system includes a 215 TB NVMe scratch file system enabling high-performance file I/O during job processing. A second 1.77 PB file system provides persistent storage for active projects. A 100 Gbps network provides fast data transfer between file systems.
RCC provides 1 TB of persistent storage to any MCW faculty member for free. Additional persistent storage is available for $60 per TB per year.
Datacenter and Network Facilities#
All RCC hardware is housed in a managed datacenter. This facility includes redundant HVAC cooling systems, redundant power distribution, UPS battery backup, and diesel-powered backup generators. All equipment is on dedicated subnets providing high-capacity redundant (1Gb) networking. The datacenter also has Internet 2 access through WiscNet.
Staff and Support#
RCC is supported by a team of research computing specialists with additional support and assistance from several central IT teams. RCC provides training, software installation and setup, end-user support, and troubleshooting. This includes consultation with full-time RCC staff members who have extensive system administration and research computing experience.