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College of Life Sciences Biology
Piccolo Lab

Using the Supercomputer

Some research projects require use of the BYU Supercomputer. If you need this resource, request an account from the Office of Research Computing. When it asks what you plan to do with your account, tell them briefly about the research you will be doing. Tell them that you will be executing custom Python and/or R scripts, that you expect to execute only single-node jobs, and that you expect to install bioinformatics software and execute it. Mention that you anticipate executing jobs that typically require between 1 and 64 GB memory per job and 1-16 processing cores per job, depending on the specific needs of your project. (In some cases, you may need to specify something other than this.)

If you have a Windows machine, you can install the Bitvise SSH tool. It will allow you to connect using either a terminal window or an Explorer-like window.

If you have a UNIX-based system and want to connect to FSL without using a password, follow the instructions here.

Where files should be stored:

  • Input data files = ~/fsl_groups/fslg_piccololab. Dr. Piccolo will place them in a subdirectory. Please do not make copies of these files.
  • Code, scripts, and test data files = Your home directory. Also commit these to a Git repository and push them to BitBucket or GitHub as you develop.
  • Output and temporary files = ~/fsl_groups/fslg_piccololab/compute. Create a subdirectory and store the files there.