In these uncertain and challenging times, Spartans have come together to support the important work of researchers across the university. The staff at MSU’s Institute for Cyber-Enabled Research (ICER) has worked to enable online access to all research support services; ensuring the safety of employees and users and guaranteeing access to the powerful high performance computing center’s (HPCC) resources.
The MSU Supercomputer is currently running at nearly 100% utilization (see ICER dashboard) and expedited access to HPCC resources and support has been made available for computational research related to COVID-19.
Pre-planning and quick response from ICER leadership enabled the Institute to rapidly transition to a remote support model.
“When universities around the U.S. started talking about moving to online classes in response to COVID-19, it became clear that at some point we were likely to have to move to a fully remote working environment,” said Brian O’Shea, director of ICER. He quickly started the pre-planning process with the leadership team, to determine out specific online support plans.
As a result, all HPCC services continue as normal. Specifically, all ICER research support can be accessed via the ICER contact form. Monday and Thursday regularly scheduled in-person open office hours will now be held via Zoom and Microsoft Teams (view the online open office hours instructions). Training has moved online, with live training available via webinar and HPCC materials on-demand. Timely updates to our support, contact methods, and system status are posted to our websites and social media accounts, with email reserved for critical announcements and newsletters. Please follow the HPCC updates page for the latest announcements.
Across the university students, faculty and staff are adapting their routines to ensure continuity of services and research, demonstrating that Spartans Will stand firm together in these uncertain times.
Feature photo: The core of ICER’s high speed research network; it enables each node (computer) in the supercomputer cluster to talk to every other node in millionths of a second (i.e. 50 – 100 billion bits per second).
Adele Han via ICER @ MSU