Data Management and Storage
The Research Computing team procures and maintains several data storage options, including both active and archive storage solutions. If you are affiliated with Northeastern University, you can request one or more storage solutions to meet your needs. If you anticipate needing storage as part of a grant requirement, please schedule a storage consultation with an RC staff member to understand what storage options best meet your research needs.
If you find that you need more than the allotted complimentary storage, please refer to the Research Projects Storage Space Policy page for more information about Active and Archival storage costs.
High Performance Computing
As a researcher at Northeastern University, you can take advantage of the comprehensive research computing offerings and services available to you—including access to centralized high performance computing (HPC) clusters, storage, visualization, software, high-level technical and scientific consultations, documentation, and training.
Explorer is a high performance computing (HPC) resource for the Northeastern University research community. The Explorer cluster is located in the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center (MGHPCC) in Holyoke, MA. MGHPCC is a 90,000 square-foot, 15 megawatt research computing and data center facility that houses computing resources for five institutions: Northeastern, BU, Harvard, MIT, UMass, and Yale.
The Explorer cluster provides access to over 50,000 CPU cores and over 525 GPUs to all Northeastern faculty and students free of charge. Hardware currently available for research consists of a combination of Intel Xeon (Cascadelake, Skylake, Broadwell, Haswell, Sandybridge, and Ivybridge) and AMD (Zen, Zen2) CPU microarchitectures. Additionally, a selection of NVIDIA Pascal (P100), Volta (V100), Turing (T4), Ampere (A100), and Hopper (H100) GPUs. Explorer is connected to the university network over 10 Gbps Ethernet (GbE) for high-speed data transfer, and Explorer provides 6 PB of available storage on a high-performance file system. Compute nodes are connected with either 10 GbE or high data rate InfiniBand (200 Gbps or 100 Gbps), supporting all types and scales of computational workloads.
Service Catalog FAQ
Data Management and Storage
New Storage Space Request
Who can fill out this request?
This request can be completed by any Explorer user.
What is this request for?
Use this form to request new storage space on Explorer. All requests will be subject to a review before being processed.
Are there any special considerations for students filling out this request?
Students need to specify the name of the PI who owns the storage.
Where do I request a new storage space?
Where can I learn more about Data Storage Options?
Storage Space Extension Request
Who can fill out this request?
Who can fill out this request?
This request can be completed by any Explorer user.
What is this request for?
Use this form to request an extension to your storage space on Explorer. All requests will be subject to a review before being processed and could require payment if the storage space exceeds the allotted complimentary storage (35TB summed across all directories owned by the PI).
Are there any special considerations for students filling out this request?
If you are a student, verify that the name that appears in the Owner of Storage Space field is correct after selecting from the Existing Storage Space name.
Where do I request a storage space extension?
Where can I learn more about Data Storage Options?
Where can I view the Storage Extension SLO?
High Performance Computing
Explorer Cluster Classroom Use
Who can fill out this request?
This request must be completed by the faculty member assigned to teach the course.
What is this request for?
Submit this form to request access to use the Explorer cluster with your class. A member of the Research Computing team will reach out following submission of your request to understand the specific needs of your class. We will make every effort to accommodate your specific hardware and software needs, but occasionally due to the limitation of resources, we might have to provide alternatives. Read about and book a Research Computing consultation.
Are there any special considerations for students filling out this request?
Students cannot complete this request.
Where do I request Explorer for my course?
Where can I learn more about using Explorer in my courses?
Explorer Cluster Partition Access
Who can fill out this request?
This request can be completed by all Explorer users.
What is this request for?
Use this form to request access to long, large, and multigpu partitions on the Explorer cluster. You should also use this form if you are requesting temporary testing access to multigpu. Make sure that you have all of the requested information, including test results, prior to submitting this form.
Please note, you can only request access to one partition at a time with this form.
Are there any special considerations for students filling out this request?
No.
Where do I request Explorer Cluster partition access?
Where can I learn more about Partitions on Explorer?
Explorer Software Installation Request
Who can fill out this request?
This request can be completed by all Explorer users.
What is this request for?
Use this form to request to install software on the Explorer cluster. Before filling out this form, you must:
- Review our software self-installation documentation.
- Schedule a software installation consultation.
Please Note, we might not be able to install software packages if they are not compatible with our hardware or if they conflict with any of our policies, including proper use of university equipment.
Are there any special considerations for students filling out this request?
You will need to specify the name of your faculty sponsor so they can approve your request.
Where do I request software installation for Explorer?
Where can I learn more about software on Explorer?
Where can I view the Software Installation Request SLO?
Research Computing Access Request
Who can fill out this request?
This request can be completed by all Explorer users.
What is this request for?
Use this form to request access to the Explorer Cluster or to update your sponsor information.
Are there any special considerations for students filling out this request?
You must specify the name of your current sponsor and your affiliation with Northeastern.
Where do I request access to the Explorer Cluster?
Where can I learn more about getting access to Explorer?
Where can I view the Research Computing Access Request SLO?
Research Computing Documentation Request
Who can fill out this request?
This request can be completed by all Explorer users.
What is this request for?
Use this form to request an enhancement of existing documentation or to report an error.
Are there any special considerations for students filling out this request?
No.
Where do I submit a Research Computing Documentation Request?
Where can I view the Research Computing Documentation Request SLO?
Unsubscribe from Mailing List
Who can fill out this request?
This request can be completed by all Explorer users.
What is this request for?
Use this form to unsubscribe from the HPC Cluster listserv and permanently delete your Discovery/Explorer account. Do not request to unsubscribe from the listserv if you still need your Discovery/Explorer Cluster account.
Please Note: This will also permanently delete your Discovery/Explorer Cluster account, including any data you have on the cluster.
Are there any special considerations for students filling out this request?
No.
Where do I submit an Unsubscribe from Mailing List Request?
Where can I view the Research Computing Documentation Request SLO?
How Can Research Computing Support You?
Accelerate your research at any stage by leveraging our online user guides, hands-on training sessions, and one-on-one guidance.
