This large amount of scratch space is a necessity for many of the simulation and analysis jobs run by researchers. It provides transparent access to user files which are actually stored on tape. Attached to the Origin 2000 and managed by DMF and SGI's OpenVault software, is a StorageTek 9710 tape silo. The STK 9710 has 7 DLT 7000 tape drives and 238 DLT tapes, providing a storage capacity of over 8 Terabytes. The machine is set up to be used for batch processing.
Researchers can use batch queues to run large simulation jobs.
There are several available queues, including ones for use by multiprocessor jobs. Jobs are scheduled by resource requirements like time, memory and number of processors and can take anywhere from a couple of minutes to several days to run. Time on the Origin 2000 is allocated quarterly and is available to researchers in all departments at FSU as well as to climate researchers at other cooperating institutions. FSU faculty members who are interested in using the machine should see the information on ACNS's web site . Edited by Janet DuPuy with additional information from Nancy Kellett.