High Performance and Research Computing Services

BaylorITS Research Technology's High Performance Computing and Research Computing Services group provides an advanced computing infrastructure that supports research through high-performance computing (HPC) resources, HPC programming support, and HPC technology solution design.

HPC Programming Support

We provide programming support and mentoring for researchers utilizing the university’s centralized HPC resources.  Support includes assisting clients with debugging, optimizing, and parallelizing their applications.

HPC Training

Introductory Linux

The Baylor University Kodiak High Performance Computing (HPC) environment utilizes a Linux Operating System rather than Windows or Mac. Linux is primarily used in HPC environments and is highly scalable and flexible, allowing researchers to run complex and large-scale computations on a variety of different hardware. 

Baylor University has approved the terms and conditions of a Linux Training provider offering training at no cost to Baylor faculty, staff, or students. Linux Unhatched is a self-paced, online course that lasts approximately 8 hours and includes a Linux emulator. Anyone working with the Kodiak HPC environment for research purposes should take this training in order to gain a baseline knowledge needed for working with Linux.

To enroll in the course, visit the Linux Unhatched course enrollment page, and register using your Baylor email address. You may accept the terms and conditions of the course, as these have been approved by Baylor University. 

Introductory HPC Training

The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has approved Baylor University’s use of the High Performance Computing self-paced courses available via Moodle. Both the High-Performance Computing course and the Introductory Parallel Programming Track courses are available to establish introductory HPC skills. 

To enroll in one or both of these courses,  visit the NCSA Moodle login page and select “Log in using your account on: Globus.” Choose "Baylor University" and sign-in with your BearID. Select the “Self-Paced Courses” link under the HPC-Moodle Learning Opportunities heading. Enroll in either the High-Performance Computing or Introductory Parallel Programming Track course. It is recommended to complete the High-Performance Computing course first as a pre-requisite if you are new to HPC computing.

HPC Cluster Client Support

We install and update HPC software and assist researchers with utilizing HPC cluster resources.

HPC Cluster Operation

Baylor University provides a centralized, High-Performance Computing (HPC) Cluster named Kodiak, for all Baylor researchers and their associated collaborators. Kodiak’s computing resources consist of community compute nodes, community GPU nodes, condominium nodes, and 2.5PB of multi-tiered storage.

You will need an account to use Kodiak. Kodiak accounts are available to Baylor faculty, graduate and undergraduate students. To request a Kodiak account, complete a Kodiak Account and Network Access Request form by selecting this link.

Research Technology Hub

The Research Technology Hub for Kodiak High Performance Computing is your virtual assistant to help you quickly find answers to your Kodiak questions. The Hub leverages Box AI to power searches and AI-driven queries against all of our Kodiak documentation. Simply click the button below to access the Research Technology Hub in Box (Baylor login required). Then, click the colorful Box AI button in the upper-right corner of the Box interface and enter your prompt in the dialogue box that appears. Note: If you enter a search query into the Box search bar that appears without clicking the Box AI button, Box will only return basic search results from the documentation in the Hub.

You can ask simple, informational questions:

• How do I get an account to use Kodiak?
• How do I log in to Kodiak?
• What file systems are available on Kodiak?
• How do I compile a program on Kodiak?
• How do I submit a job to run my program?
• How can I check the status of my jobs?
• Can I run multiple jobs at once?
• What should I do if I want to stop my job?
• How do I load specific software modules?
• Is there support for interactive sessions?
• Where can I find help with commands?

Or write an AI-style prompt:

• Write a python query on Kodiak.
• Describe the research purpose for Kodiak.
• Write a basic query that can be used on Kodiak to lookup data in a dataset.
• What are the most basic commands that can be used on Kodiak?

Access the Research Technology Hub for Kodiak

HPC Cluster Condominium Model

Researchers may purchase HPC computing “nodes” to be integrated into the centralized HPC cluster.  When purchasing a node, the purchaser receives priority over jobs of HPC cluster users who are not members of the respective research group.  HPRCS personnel will assist researchers with specifying and purchasing HPC nodes.  BaylorITS Research Technology operates and maintains the condominium nodes on behalf of the purchaser, eliminating the need for researchers to spend excess time conducting administrative duties.

National Science Foundation: Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Coordination Ecosystem: Services & Support program
NSF ACCESS

NSF ACCESS is a powerful collection of integrated digital resources and services—such as supercomputers, visualization and storage systems, collections of data, software, networks, and expert support—that scientists, engineers, social scientists and humanities researchers may utilize. ACCESS integrates these resources and services and makes them easier for more people to use. If you need advanced computing resources that exceed what can be provided to you at Baylor and are doing research that is NOT subject to a Protected, Restricted, or Government-Classified data classification, then NSF ACCESS may be beneficial to you.

Learn More about NSF ACCESS

Meet the High Performance Computing Support Team