Updated: August 20, 2023
High performance computing is seemingly becoming a way of life in many fields, both for research and for industry. Cloud services such as Amazon Web Service, Microsoft Azure, Digital Ocean, and a number of others allow for quick execution of tasks commonly found in many research areas. The University of Iowa maintains a high performance computing system (Argon) that allows for processing of such tasks with a Linux operating and scheduling system that is similar to those found on other cloud platforms.
Access to such a system means no longer having to manage multiple desktop computers to execute enough replications of a simulation study or no longer having to find a desktop or laptop with enough RAM to make a program run. Overall, the quality and depth of research can be greatly expanded by using a HPC resource like Argon.
University of Iowa HPC Information
- High Performance Computing website: https://hpc.uiowa.edu/
- Argon User Documentation: https://wiki.uiowa.edu/display/hpcdocs/HPC+Documentation+Home
In this post, I outline how to access and use the Argon HPC via an R Studio Server run through the Iowa Interactive Data Analytics Service (IDAS) system.
Prerequisites
To follow this guide, you must first have the following:
- A University of Iowa Argon account. You can request one from: https://research.its.uiowa.edu/our-services/computing-services/argon-high-performance-computing-hpc
- A University of Iowa Interactive Data Analytics Service Account. You can request one from: https://its.uiowa.edu/idas
- A download of the following file: https://jonathantemplin.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/ArgonDemo.zip
Video Demonstration
To show how to connect to Argon via IDAS and how to execute these job scripts, please watch the following video:
Job Script Formatting Guides
Use of Argon comes from the submission of job scripts. Guides to what these files are to contain are available here:
- High Performance Scripts: https://jonathantemplin.com/university-of-iowa-argon-hpc-system-job-script-file-example-for-high-performance-jobs/
- High Throughput Scripts: https://jonathantemplin.com/university-of-iowa-argon-hpc-system-job-script-file-example-for-high-throughput-jobs/
IDAS Notebooks Site
Connect to the IDAS Notebooks site here: https://notebooks.hpc.uiowa.edu.