An application form must be completed by each project wishing to be granted an allocation on GSD's High Performance Computing System known as JET. This application will take the form of a proposal to the Jet Allocation Committee (JAC), as described below, and will be required for both internal and external projects. The JAC is composed of members selected by the Director of GSD representing the JET user community, including GSD users, a non-GSD representative from another NOAA lab, facility support, and a non-NOAA representative. JAC members will serve two-year terms commencing 29 June 2001. The JET Production Manager will also serve on this committee.
The JAC will meet on a quarterly basis to review all new proposals (as well as those requesting renewal) to ensure that: (a) the resources requested are consistent with those expected to be available during the upcoming 12-month period, (b) the project exhibits scientific merit, (c) the project is appropriate for such a distributed computing platform as JET, and (d) the project meets certain standards for relevance to the NOAA mission. JAC will make its recommendations to the GSD Director for all JET allocations by the following dates: 15 January, 15 April, 15 July, and 15 October. The projects will start at the beginning of the month following the recommendation. In order for this to be possible, JAC has set a deadline for submission of proposals to be no later than 30 days prior to these dates. This new policy will take effect 15 August 2001, in time for the first deadline of 15 October 2001.
The application form will require five general kinds of information:
Administrative
Scientific
Parallel Computing Experience of Applicant
Project Applicability to JET
Job Performance and Resource Requirements
Two types of projects will be authorized: Developmental and Standard. Developmental projects (a small amount of node-hours per project) will be considered on an as-available basis for applicants who do not yet demonstrate satisfaction of the above requirements for a Standard Project. The purpose of Developmental projects is to allow researchers to develop the computer science expertise needed to enable a full Standard Project to be granted. Developmental projects are granted for a 3-month period and may be extended upon request to JAC with documentation of progress. Standard projects require that the applicant have a clear understanding of project importance, scientific soundness, and computer knowledge required to effectively conduct this research on JET.
The committee may, at its discretion, recommend:
Rejection of a project
Full approval of a project
Standard project approved with fewer resources than requested
Standard project request approved as a standby project
Standard project request approved as a Developmental project
A standby project is one that although approved, has no JET resources available to it, and will be activated only if another project fails to use its resources or withdraws its request for resources.
The recommendations of the JAC for funding each request will be made on the basis of all of the above criteria and must be approved by the GSD Director. Each successful application must meet all of the following criteria: a) relevance to NOAA mission, b) project funding, c) scientific and technical soundness, d) appropriateness of request for running on JET, e)relevant computer experience of applicant, f) justification for requested resources and g) availability of resources. A majority vote of the entire committee will be taken to make the final recommendation.
No more than 80% of JET computational capacity shall be allocated for Standard projects and no more than 5% of JET computational capacity shall be allocated for Development projects. Also, the following apportionment of resources will be enforced by JAC in its proposal review process, as is consistent with the original computer acquisition: 40% for GSD data assimilation and modeling activities, 40% for NAOS experiments, and 20% for non-GSD usage by the broader NOAA community (including joint institutes, and other collaborators). Unless circumstances warrant and special arrangements are made, allocations will be computed on a daily basis with no more than 7 times the daily allocation accrued. (This is a weekly use or lose policy for CPU allocations.)
The committee has the authority to limit the maximum number of nodes that a project may use at any one time on JET.
Dedicated compute-nodes must be requested using a special allocation request form (see attached). The JAC will then make a special exception recommendation to the GSD Director. This form may be completed at any time.
When the system is underutilized, the Jet Production Manager may approve short-term informal use. This should be documented (e.g. by email) and maintained in a file that is available to the JAC.
