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ACENET provides advanced research computing resources, expertise, consulting and training to post-secondary researchers, students and collaborators throughout Atlantic Canada. Advanced computing entails computationally and/or data intensive work that is beyond the capabilities of a desktop, including high performance, big data and GPU computing. It also includes developing cloud-based platforms and portals for research communities, storage and large-scale file transfer.

The following training sessions are free of charge to researchers and students across all disciplines. All sessions take place at Dalhousie University, in the Killam Library, room B400. Please register prior to the sessions at the links below or on the ACENET training page. 

Introduction to High Performance Computing with ACENET & Compute Canada (1 hour)
18 September, 1:00-2:00pm

What is high performance computing (HPC) and what can it do for me? How can ACENET help? Used by researchers across many disciplines to tackle analyses too large or complex for a desktop, or to achieve improved efficiency over a desktop, this session takes participants through the preliminary stages of learning about HPC and computing clusters, and how to get started with this type of computing. It then reviews software packages available for applications, data analysis, software development and compiling code. Finally, participants will be introduced to the concept of parallel computing to achieve much faster results in analysis. This session is designed for those with no prior experience in HPC, and who are looking for an introduction and overview.

Introduction to Linux (1.5 hours)
18 September, 2:30-4:00pm

Linux is the terminal interface used to enable you to use the ACENET and Compute Canada HPC clusters from your desktop. It's the tool to get your data on the clusters, run your programs, and get your data back. In this session, learn how to get started with Linux, how to create and navigate directories for your data, load files, manage your storage, run programs on the computing clusters, and set file permissions. This workshop is designed for those with no prior experience in working with a terminal interface. Participants are encouraged to have a Compute Canada account and bring a laptop in order to do the exercises.

Introduction to Shell Scripting (1.5 hours)
19 September, 1:00-2:30pm    

Participants will learn how to use shell scripting to exercise the power of the command line. Shell scripting helps you save time, automate file management tasks, and better use Linux. This session teaches you how to name, locate and set permissions for executable files, taking input and producing output. Learn about job scripts, shell variables and looping commands. This workshop is designed for either new HPC users who are familiar with working in a Linux environment, but have not had experience with shell scripting, or for experienced users seeking to get more out of shell scripting. In order to get the most from the session, participants are strongly encouraged to have a Compute Canada account and to bring a laptop to do the exercises.   

Job Scheduling With Slurm (1.5 hours)
19 September, 2:30-4:00pm

This session teaches participants how to use Compute Canada's queuing environment on the national systems, using the job scheduler Slurm. Learn how the scheduler works, how it allocates jobs, what are reasonable requests to minimize wait time, how to make the best use of the resources to be more efficient, how to get more throughput, how to get more jobs running at the same time, and how to troubleshoot and deal with crashes. This workshop is designed for either new HPC users familiar with Linux and Shell Scripting, but who have not had experience with using Slurm, or, for experienced users transitioning to Slurm or seeking to improve efficiency with the scheduler. In order to get the most from the session, participants are strongly encouraged to have a Compute Canada account and to bring a laptop to do the exercises.