CCIT Research Computing & Data (RCD) directly supports research, education, and innovation at Clemson. RCD provides both humanware and hardware, both of which we consider to be essential to our mission.

Palmetto High-Performance Computing Cluster

The RCD team invites any researcher or student at Clemson to take advantage of the Palmetto Cluster’s resources at no charge. All that is required is requesting a free account on the cluster. Students will need a faculty sponsor, typically their adviser, to open an account. To get started, see the Getting Started page on our documentation.

We also provide training resources to all Clemson users through our workshop series. These workshops can help new users get started on the cluster, train more experienced users to optimize their jobs, and introduce users to machine learning, Python, R, and version control.

Any user may submit jobs to the general work queue, with no purchase required, on a first-come, first-served basis. This is the foundation of our condominium (condo) model, which provides computing to all, while allowing faculty to purchase priority access if needed. Jobs submitted by node owners will run immediately and other users take advantage of idle cycles, maximizing use of the cluster. Non-standard hardware configurations can be supported, as long as they meet the minimum data center requirements. More information, including external collaborator access, can be found in the Node Owner’s Guide.

If you need help, the RCD staff can consult with you and find solutions. We can assist users with software installation, answer questions, provide feedback, and more.

For more information about current hardware and performance metrics, see our Facilities Description.

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RCD Engagement Group

RCD Engagement is the front-facing team that supports all research that leverages the power of CCIT computing resources. The team comprises a well-established, highly successful group of faculty and technical staff with an international reputation for leading research in areas such as high-performance computing, high-throughput computing, high-performance networking, data access/storage and interpretation, and software environments for cyber-enabled communities.

Contact: Asher Antao, aantao@clemson.edu

Clemson Center for Geospatial Technologies (GIS Group)

The Clemson Center for Geospatial Technologies aims to build a community of interdisciplinary geospatial science practitioners through the support of research, teaching, and outreach activities using technologies that enable the collection, analysis, and application of geospatial data. The Center is dedicated to assisting faculty and students in the integration of geospatial technologies within their scholarly activities across all disciplines at Clemson University and building connections between academic, industrial, governmental, and non-governmental institutions throughout the world.

Contact: Patricia Carbajales-Dale, pcarbaj@clemson.edu 

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RCD Infrastructure Group

This team installs and maintains hardware, storage, and systems software, including job scheduling, for the Palmetto HPC cluster. The team also provides hardware support for all research computing equipment located in the ITC datacenter, including the national “CloudLab” resource. The Infrastructure team works closely with the Engagement team to provide the best possible solutions for Clemson’s computational research faculty and students.

Contact: Scott Groel, sgroel@clemson.edu