Acceptable user guidelines

Cyberinfrastructure and Research Computing (CIRC) resources are deployed, configured, and operated to serve a large and diverse user community. It is important that all users are aware of and abide by CIRC Usage Policies. Failure to do so may result in suspension or cancellation of the project and associated allocation and closure of all associated logins. Illegal transgressions will be addressed through The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) and/or legal authorities.

Account eligibility

CIRC resources are available to faculty and staff at UT Dallas, CIRC Research Partners, Texas higher educational institutions, and US academic researchers. Additional supporting documentation may be required prior to accessing CIRC resources. Eligible UT Dallas, CIRC Partner, and Texas higher education users can request CIRC accounts. Individuals and groups that engage in collaborative research and development activities with UTD are eligible to apply for user accounts.

Cryptocurrencies

Users are prohibited from running applications that mine cryptocurrency and/or use block-chain technology for personal gain. Violations of these guidelines will result in the user’s access to CIRC resources being terminated.

Use of protected software and data

PIs and users agree not to install or use any software or data that falls under the following protected categories without first contacting issupport@utdallas.edu.

  • International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)

  • Export Administration Regulations (EAR)

  • Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

  • Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA)

  • Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

  • any other protected control

An appropriate Business Associate Agreement (BAA), Technology Control Plan (TCP), Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU), or other relevant agreements between UT Dallas and the PI or home intuition must be in place before such software or data can be installed or used on any CIRC resource. Violations of these guidelines will result in the immediate removal of said software and/or data and deactivation of related projects, allocations, and user accounts.

Policies for CIRC users

Users must abide by the following policies. Failure to do so will lead to disciplinary actions.

  • Sharing of user credentials is strictly prohibited.

  • Users are only allowed one account per person.

  • PIs are responsible for notifying CIRC when project users should be deactivated due to the departure of the user or termination of the project.

  • Never infringe upon someone else’s copyright. It is a violation of CIRC guidelines and federal law to participate in copyright infringement.

  • Never try to circumvent login procedures on any CIRC resource or otherwise attempt to gain access where you are not allowed. Never deliberately scan or probe any information resource without prior authorization.

  • Computing resources cannot be used for commercial purposes or personal gain.

Disciplinary actions

Punishment for infractions includes, but is not limited to, the following:

  • Written or verbal warnings

  • Revocation of access privileges to CIRC systems

  • Termination of projects at CIRC

  • Criminal prosecution

Utilization

CIRC has documented the purpose and proper use of resources and services via a series of user guides and other web-based documents available on the CIRC web site. Users assume the responsibility for becoming familiar with this documentation, particularly the following:

  • Adherence to resource limits

  • Proper and considerate use of the batch queuing system

  • Understanding the purpose and proper use of file systems and storage services

  • Proper use of CIRC resources.

CIRC resources should be used only for work directly related to the project for which the resources were requested and granted. CIRC resources should only be used for documented or obvious intended purpose.

The login nodes of the CIRC compute clusters are reserved for compiling, loading, and preparing to submit jobs to run in a batch queue. Running compute or I/O bound processes on these nodes causes excess overhead and affects the ability of the general user community to use the systems effectively. Processes inappropriate to execute on these nodes will automatically be killed and the user notified. Users repeatedly violating these guidelines will be denied access to the system and must contact CIRC before access is restored.

The CIRC data storage resources are intended to provide the user community with a high-speed, shared storage facility that is available to applications that span multiple CIRC resources. Data stored on any CIRC data storage resource must be associated with research projects approved by CIRC. Users storing data not meeting this criterion may lose all rights to use CIRC resources. All users assume the responsibility for reading the information contained in the appropriate system User Guide.

Account deactivation guidelines

Accounts will be deactivated for one of the following reasons:

PI request

An account deactivation request by a PI will result in the account being denied access to use the PI’s project’s allocation if the account doesn’t have access to another active project.

Project expiration

Upon project expiration, all accounts—​PI and user—​will be immediately denied access to the allocation, and CIRC-issued user certificates will be revoked unless users have access to other active projects. All batch and remote job submissions will subsequently be rejected.

Violation of CIRC guidelines

Any user account determined by CIRC to be in violation of a CIRC guideline will immediately be denied access to all CIRC resources without notification.

Account inactivity

User accounts will be deactivated due to inactivity after 120 calendar days. This will be done automatically and users will have to submit a ticket to have their account reactivated. Any successful login to a CIRC resource (including the CIRC User Portal) will reset this timer.

Data retention

Please see our storage documentation for information regarding how data is stored.

User support

CIRC users are encouraged to request assistance from CIRC support when necessary. Requests for support should be submitted through email to circ-assist@utdallas.edu. Exceptions to these guidelines will be handled on a case-by-case basis. Special project collaborations are examples of situations requiring direct communication between CIRC and the user community. CIRC support will provide advice to users regarding the development, porting, debugging, and optimizing of codes, and in the proper use of CIRC resources. Support does not include the actual development, porting, debugging, and optimization of codes.

CIRC citation

Please reference CIRC in any research report, journal or publication that requires citation of any author’s work. The recognition of the CIRC resources you used to perform research is important for acquiring funding for the next generation hardware, support services, and Research and Development activities in HPC, visualization, data storage, and grid infrastructure. The minimal content of a citation should include:

Office of Information Technology Cyberinfrastructure Research Computing (CIRC) The University of Texas at Dallas

Our suggested acknowledgement is:

The authors acknowledge the Office of Information Technology Cyberinfrastructure Research Computing (CIRC) at The University of Texas at Dallas for providing {HPC, visualization, services, or storage}[1] resources that have contributed to the research results reported within this paper. URL: https://oit.utdallas.edu/about/cyberinfrastructure-research-services/

1. Select one or more items.