Delta - NCSA

Last update: September 10, 2024

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Delta is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. OAC-2005572.

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Delta is a dedicated, ACCESS-allocated resource designed by HPE and NCSA, delivering a highly capable GPU-focused compute environment for GPU and CPU workloads. In addition to offering a mix of standard and reduced precision GPU resources, Delta also offers GPU-dense nodes with both NVIDIA and AMD GPUs. Delta provides high performance node-local SSD scratch filesystems, as well as both standard Lustre and relaxed-POSIX (not yet implemented) parallel filesystems spanning the entire resource.

Envisioned to lead change across the dimensions of computing, storage, and usability, Delta employs standards-based, fully customized science gateways with per-domain interfaces provided alongside the traditional command-line batch system interface. Enabled science gateways seamlessly integrate Delta into the cyberinfrastructure ecosystem alongside other resources to enable complex, multi-system workflows. To advance applications, the Delta project team continues the applications-focused, outcomes-oriented approach to drive the transition to GPU-accelerated applications alongside gateway-based productivity advances. Integrated with the NSF's Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Coordination Ecosystem: Services & Support (ACCESS) ecosystems, Delta leverages the substantial portfolio of services and support offered therein and together deliver unprecedented advances in researcher productivity.

Delta supports the ACCESS core software stack, including remote login, remote computation, data movement, science workflow support, and science gateway support toolkits.

Complete User Documentation

The complete user documentation for Delta is available at https://ncsa-delta-doc.readthedocs-hosted.com/en/latest/index.html

Status Updates and Notices

Delta system status, planned outages, and maintenance information is available through ACCESS.

• Current outage information: Outages | ACCESS Support

• ACCESS infrastructure news (outage and reconfiguration news): System Status News | Operations

• ACCESS Delta Affinity Group site with links to news and the Slack channel for users: DELTA | ACCESS Support

Quick Start Guide

This information is for users who are adept at using an HPC system and are only interested in the basic Delta workflow.

• Management Tools - Account management (ACCESS and non-ACCESS)

• Direct Access Login Nodes - Accessing the system via direct access login nodes

• Partitions (Queues) - Partitions and job policies

• Storage Management - File systems and quota. The /scratch file system is not an allocated resource. Please submit a request with details on the requested increase: amount, time period, and justification.

• Job Management - Batch job management

• Sample Scripts - Sample scripts

• Transferring Data - Transferring data to and from the Delta system

Getting Started with High-Performance Computing

There are no specific prerequisite courses or high-performance computing (HPC) experience required before using Delta. However, if you are unfamiliar with using an HPC cluster, it is highly recommended that you take NCSA’s short tutorial Using an HPC Cluster for Scientific Applications.

You can also browse the full list of NCSA's HPC-Moodle Self-Paced Tutorials to learn more about other HPC topics.

Getting Help

• For ACCESS allocations issues, create a ticket via the ACCESS Help page (ACCESS log in required). You can browse other ACCESS support resources on the ACCESS Support page (ACCESS log in not required).

• Use the NCSA Support Help Center for all other issues, regardless of allocation type. Powered by Jira Service Manager (JSM), in this new tool you can:

  • Search knowledge base articles to resolve common issues faster.

  • Submit help request tickets.

  • Monitor the status of your tickets.

  • Respond to NCSA staff as they work to resolve your tickets.

• Refer to the JSM User Job Aid for information on how to navigate the help center.

• The NCSA Support Help Center is the preferred method to submit requests. However, if you run into problems using it, you can still email help@ncsa.illinois.edu for support. When emailing a request to help@ncsa.illinois.edu please follow these guidelines:

  • A descriptive subject line starting with Delta (for example, “Delta: srun isn’t working.”)

  • In the email body, include:

    • The UserID you use to log into the system.

    • The name of the allocation account that you use to submit jobs.

    • Approximately when (date/time) the issue occurred.

    • What you were trying to do and how you tried to do it.

    • Why you think it isn’t working.

    • Commands or scripts you ran, in enough detail to reproduce the problem (text files are preferred).

    • The output and/or error messages you got (text files are preferred).

    • Did you install any modules? If so, which ones? (run module list and paste the output into the message)

    • If your command or script worked in the past, when did it stop working?

    • Any other approaches you’ve tried.

    • Any other information you think might be relevant.