Available Resources

Below is the list of resources available for the Resource Allocation Competition (RAC). For technical documentation about the resources available, please visit our wiki page.

* The shared filesystem storage is backed up.

** This is a provisional name. It could change.

How to request resources in the online RAC application form

Note: There should be no discrepancies between what you request in the application document attached to your application and what you request in the online form. In case of discrepancy, the online form will prevail.

Resources in the clusters and in the cloud are organized by subsystems. As indicated in the table above, each subsystem will only show the resources available there. For example, the niagara2-storage subsystem will only show /project storage; niagara2-compute will only show CPU (and memory); nearline storage on Niagara is available in the hpss-storage subsystem only, etc.

1. In the corresponding Resources for Research Groups (RRG) or Research Platforms and Portals (RPP) application forms on CCDB, go to the Resource Request section.
2. The dropdown menu under New resource request will show the list of all systems and subsystems with the corresponding resources available for allocation. 
3. To indicate that your request can be allocated in any resource and that you do not have a preference for a particular one, please check the option "I have to select a system but I don’t mind receiving an allocation on any other suitable one" in the "Reason for selecting system" section.
4. Requesting HPC resources: In the national clusters, compute and storage resources are shown as different subsystems on CCDB following this convention:
   1. system-compute (e.g. cedar-compute): select these to request CPU resources. Please pay special attention to your memory requirements as this will be taken into account for final allocations.
   2. system-gpu (e.g. cedar-gpu): select these to request GPU resources.
   3. system-storage (e.g. cedar-storage): select these to request storage resources on a particular system. Each subsystem will only show the storage resources (/project, /nearline, etc.) available for that particular subsystem. 

For example, if you want to request both CPU resources and /project storage resources on the Cedar cluster, you will have to fill in two separate requests: one with the cedar-compute subsystem for core years and memory, and another one with the system-storage subsystem for /project storage (in TB). 

5. Requesting Cloud resources: If you need to request cloud resources in more than one location, then you will have to make one request for each location. On CCDB, cloud resources follow this convention:
   1. system-compute-cloud or system-persistent-cloud: you can select compute or persistent VMs on Arbutus, Cedar and Béluga clouds, but only persistent VMs on graham-cloud. Each cloud resource will only show the specific "flavors" of VMs available for that particular site.

Please email allocations@tech.alliancecan.ca with any questions on how to request resources.