Syracuse Research Computing

Syracuse Research Computing Documentation

Welcome! This is your central hub for Syracuse University’s research computing resources, including computing clusters, GPU access, software environments, and support.

🚀 Quick Start

Need Computing Resources?

📧 Request Access: Email researchcomputing@syr.edu

Tell us about your research, computational needs, and any data sensitivity requirements. We’ll schedule a consultation to match you to the right resource.

Accounts are not active by default - all access begins with consultation to ensure proper resource assignment and compliance.

📝 Complete request guide - What to include in your email →

Our Resources: We operate two research computing clusters (OrangeGrid and Zest), private cloud environments (AVHE and Crush), GPU infrastructure (SUrge), and support cloud partnerships. Learn more in our complete resource overview.

Just Received Your Credentials?

📖 Start Here: Getting Started Guide

Your welcome email contains login information and instructions specific to your assigned resource.

Looking for Something Specific?

💡 What’s Different About Research Computing?

Coming from a laptop or desktop? Research clusters work differently:

Your Laptop Research Cluster
Click “Run” in Jupyter/IDE Write submission script
See results immediately Submit to queue, check later
Use all resources yourself Share with hundreds of users
GUI tools work Command-line only
Install software freely Use conda/containers/modules
Pick your own hardware We match you to the right resource

Why batch computing? It enables fair resource sharing, running jobs too large for any single computer, queuing hundreds of jobs automatically, and accessing specialized hardware.

Why consultation? We ensure you get the right resource, data sensitivity requirements are met, your workflow matches the resource capabilities, and you have the best support.

Data Sensitivity & Compliance: Tell us about data requirements upfront! Many grants have specific data security agreements (HIPAA, FERPA, export controls, etc.). This significantly impacts which resources are appropriate.

🖥️ Our Computing Resources

We operate two research computing clusters, private cloud environments, GPU infrastructure, and support cloud partnerships:

  • OrangeGrid - High-throughput computing cluster (over 80,000 cores)
  • Zest - High-performance computing cluster (over 25,000 cores)
  • SUrge - GPU infrastructure (hundreds of GPUs)
  • AVHE & Crush - Private clouds
  • Azure - Cloud partnership

View complete resource overview →

📊 Cluster Quick Reference

OrangeGrid (HTCondor)

Scale: Over 80,000 cores Scheduler: HTCondor Access: its-og-loginX.syr.edu

Best for: Many independent jobs, parameter sweeps, batch processing

Key commands:

condor_submit job.sub     # Submit job
condor_q netid            # Check status
condor_rm jobid           # Cancel job

GPUs: A100, L40S, A6000 (via SUrge) - Request with +request_gpus = 1

OrangeGrid Details → Technical Specs →

Zest (Slurm)

Scale: Over 25,000 cores with InfiniBand Scheduler: Slurm Access: its-zest-loginX.syr.edu

Best for: Multi-node parallel, MPI, tightly-coupled work, long runtimes

Key commands:

sbatch script.sh          # Submit job
squeue -u netid           # Check status
scancel jobid             # Cancel job

GPUs: A40 (primary, via SUrge) - Request with #SBATCH --gres=gpu:1

Zest Details → Technical Specs →

💻 Code Examples

Ready-to-use job scripts:

Clone to your cluster home:

git clone https://github.com/SyracuseUniversity/OrangeGridExamples.git
git clone https://github.com/SyracuseUniversity/ZestExamples.git

❓ Common Tasks

Submit a job:

  • OrangeGrid: condor_submit job.sub
  • Zest: sbatch script.sh

Check job status:

  • OrangeGrid: condor_q netid
  • Zest: squeue -u netid

Use GPUs:

  • OrangeGrid: Add +request_gpus = 1 to submit file
  • Zest: Add #SBATCH --gres=gpu:1 to script

Transfer files:

# Small files
scp file.txt netid@cluster:~/path/

# Large files (resumable)
rsync -avz --progress /local/data/ netid@cluster:~/data/

For large data transfers (TBs): Contact researchcomputing@syr.edu for optimized options.

📞 Getting Help

Request Access:
📧 Email researchcomputing@syr.edu with your research description, computational needs, and any data sensitivity requirements.

Complete request guide →

Technical Support:

External Documentation: