Operations and Information Support provides 24-7 service

Monitors computers, manages user accounts, supplies user information . . .

OIS staffer mounts an MSS cassette Contents Search Article index Back issues Subscribe Contact us SCD

by Juli Rew T he Operations and Information Support (OIS) Section monitors the SCD computers and the UCAR networks 365 days a year for 24 hours per day, maintains the necessary environmental and hardware infrastructure, manages user accounts and software licenses, and provides an array of information to users and SCD staff. Installing and maintaining new platforms OIS staff do the planning and installation (including electricity, cooling, and space) of new platforms for the NCAR Mesa Lab machine room. In the past year, NCAR acquired two major new supercomputers: a 24-processor CRAY J-90SE (chipeta), and a 128-processor SGI Origin 2000 (ute). OIS also arranged for the "honorable discharge" of older workhorses such as the CRAY Y-MP (shavano). Applying for resources now easier Last year OIS developed software to make the application and allocation process for computing resources easier for users, reviewers, and staff. There is now a web-enabled form that lets applicants save their data temporarily, recall and change it as necessary, and submit it. The facility also sends e-mail copies to the applicant, principal investigator, and/or sponsor. To apply for SCD computing resources, see the URL: www.scd.ucar.edu/ois/resources/compServ.html Charging reports now online too OIS reports that you can now check on your resource usage yourself on the web. By going to www.scd.ucar.edu/dbsg/dbs/ you can look at reports broken down by machine (including the Mass Storage System), date, and project. Improved network monitoring and MSS statistics gathering OIS has instituted improvements that help make the machine room run more efficiently and resolve problems more quickly. A major responsibility of operations staff is network monitoring. Operators worked with staff from SCD's Network Engineering and Technology Section to consolidate a great deal of network-related documentation into a database, which is accessible via the web. Linked to the network monitor, this database includes contact information, telling operators who to contact depending on the situation. If you have network problems, you can call Operations at 303-497-1200. Data storage on NCAR's Mass Storage System has been increasing at a staggering 5 terabytes per month. OIS staff developed programs that gather statistical information on the number of MSS cartridges and mounts. Last year, a StorageTek robotic system mounted 419,000 data cartridges, while operators manually mounted another 414,000. Daily manual mounts across three shifts per day ranged up to 3,000. OIS monitors how many cartridges we have free, so that inventories are not too large. Occasionally, though, OIS needs to be prepared to handle surges in data. For example, when the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center closed last year, a lot of those data quickly found a new home at NCAR.

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