SAFE Resources. SAFE User Guide

Transcription

1 SAFE User Guide SAFE (Secure Access For Everyone) is a well-coordinated, usable, federated identity and access management system that supports trusted collaboration and sharing of compute and data resources across multiple researchers institutions by leveraging Cyber infrastructure (CI) resources at the campus, regional, national and international multi-organizational levels. Research increasingly requires collaborations across multiple institutions and the capabilities to access and share resources across multiple disciplines, and SAFE provides access to those resources. SAFE Resources The SAFE Portal allows research collaborators to request access to the following resources: High Performance Computing (HPC), Virtual Computing Lab (VCL) and Collaborative Data Storage (CDS). High Performance Computing (HPC): This resource allows FIU members and external collaborators to submit and run jobs on the FIU HPC servers as well as download and upload files to and from the HPC cluster. The HPC environment is comprised of 1500 Intel-based cores with memory nodes that range from 32 GB to 384 GB. In addition to this, there are 56 Gbps Infiniband nodes available with 250 TB of high performance parallel storage (GPFS) as well as visualization nodes for remote interactive graphical software. Virtual Computing Lab (VCL): This resource functions as an online compute laboratory or test bed that researchers can use to create their own specific compute resources configured to their needs. The VCL environment gives users remote access to custom virtual machines and software in order to provide them with on-demand computing anytime and anywhere. With an easy-to-use web interface that takes advantage of a federated single-sign on (SSO) called Shibboleth, users are able to authenticate easily using their organization s identity and consequently gain access to the VCL reservation system. In a few minutes after requesting a reservation with VCL, users can have access to one or hundreds of virtual machines configured just as they requested. Collaborative Data Storage (CDS): This resource leverages Data Direct Network s Web Object Scaler (WOS) to offer High-Performance cloud storage to FIU faculty, their students and their external colleagues across multiple institutions. WOS is a specialized object-based storage system that is ideal for storing petabytes of unstructured data, which can then be selectively replicated across multiple sites. Data owners have the ability to control access to their data, no matter where it resides. WOS is an ideal solution to facilitate collaboration and sharing of data among researchers. Besides its DropBox-like interface, data can also be accessed via the Common Internet File System (CIFS), Network File System (NFS) & cloud APIs. The cloud APIs give it the ultimate flexibility to be integrated into practically any application. 1

2 How to Request Access to SAFE Resources 1. To request access to SAFE resources, you must first access the SAFE web portal, and click the button. 2. The InCommon Federation Identity Provider list will appear (See Figure 1). Select your institution from the list, and click Next. Figure Your institution s Shibboleth login page should appear. Log in with your home institution s credentials. 4. You should now see the SAFE portal Welcome page (see Figure 2) with the 3 resources that are available for access (High Performance Computing, Virtual Computing Lab, and Collaborative Data Storage). 2

3 You need to request access and be authorized by an FIU faculty member or the IRCC team to use any of these resources. You will be notified via once your access request has been completed. Figure Click on the resource that you wish to gain access to. So, for example, to gain access to the High Performance Computing HPC resource, click on High Performance Computing HPC. A description of the resource will appear. Click on Request Access (see Figure 3) to request access for this resource. Repeat the same process for any of the other resources that you wish to gain access to (e.g., VCL or Collaborative Data Storage). The request process works in the same way for all three resources. Figure You will be prompted to enter the FIU Liaison s address and the reason why you need access to this resource (see Figure 4). Enter the requested information and click Send Request to send the request for approval. 3

4 Figure The FIU faculty liaison specified in the Access Request Form will receive an with instructions on how to approve (or decline) the request. Once the request is approved, you will be notified via so that you can return to the SafeProject portal to gain access to the resources. Once you click on the resource that you wish to gain access to, the menu will expand and you will see the services that are available for each resource. For example, once you gain access to the HPC resource, you will see the menu shown on Figure 5 below. Figure 5 If you are approved for access to Virtual Computing Lab (VCL), then the menu shown below in Figure 6 will appear. Figure 6 4

5 If you are approved for access to the Collaborative Data Storage, then the menu shown below in Figure 7 will appear. Figure 7 From the expanded menu you will be able to select the service you wish to access for that particular resource. Using the High Performance Computing (HPC) Services Once you are granted access to the HPC resource, you will see the expanded menu shown on Figure 5 above which will give you access to the following services: SSH Terminal The SSH Terminal Service allows you to establish an SSH connection via the web to one of the HPC login nodes. Once the SSH session is established, you can load modules, examine logs, etc. Upload Files Use the Upload Files service to send files from your local computer to the HPC server. Enter the relative path to the directory where uploaded files will be placed. If you do not provide a directory name, uploaded files will be placed in your home directory. Download Files Use the Download Files service to send files from the HPC server to your local computer. Enter the relative path to the directory to be downloaded. Notice that only files and not subdirectories will be included in the download zip file. Submit Job Use the Submit Job service to submit a job directly to the HPC server. You will be presented with a form that you will need to fill out (see Figure 8) and once all the fields have been filled out, click on Submit Job to submit job to the server for processing. 5

6 Figure 8 Using the Virtual Computing Lab (VCL) Services Once you are granted access to the VCL resource, you will see the expanded menu shown on Figure 6 above which will give you access to request a new reservation in our VCL environment as follows: 1. Click on New Reservation 2. Click on Proceed to Login 3. Click on New Reservation 4. From the pull-down menu, select the type of reservation you wish to make (e.g., Centos_Linux or Win 7 Base) 5. Select when you will like to use this reservation and its duration 6. Click on Create Reservation (see Figure 9) 6

7 Figure 9 7. After a few minutes, your reservation will be ready and you will see the Connect! Button (see Figure 10). Figure Click on the Connect! button to initiate the reservation 9. Return to the SAFE Portal page and click the Refresh link 10. You should see your new reservation listed 11. Click on Connect to access your reservation (see Figure 11) 7

8 Figure 11 Using the Collaborative Data Storage (CDS) Services Once you are granted access to the Collaborative Data Storage resource, you will see the expanded menu shown on Figure 7 above which will give you access to the FIU Collaborative Data Storage via a Globus portal. Here is how you can get access to the CDS: 1. Click the Transfer Data link under the Globus icon to be directed to the Globus Web Portal 2. Select your institution from the pull-down menu 3. Log in with your home institution s credentials 4. The Globus Transfer Files interface should appear 5. In the box to the right, in the EndPoint box, enter FIUHPC#Globus 6. You will immediately be connected to the NSF share for FIU s Collaborative Data Storage where you can upload and share your data (see Figure 12) 7. You will need to install the Globus Connect Personal client in order to download files from the CDS to your local computer. Please visit for instructions on how to install the Globus Connect Personal client. 8

9 Figure 12 Note: If you wish to share documents with external users (e.g., other SSERCA members) via Globus, FIU s IRCC team will create your folder in the WOS Collaborative Storage under the globus-share subfolder. You will then be able to select the Share option to share the folder with other users. Once the Share option is selected, you will be able to specify the addresses of the external users you wish to share their files with (see Figure 13 below). 9

10 Figure 13 10