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Getting an ORC Cluster account

Eligibility

All GMU faculty, staff and students are eligible for an account on ORC clusters. Account requests must be sponsored by a current GMU faculty member.

To request an account, please fill out the account request form.

The link will take you to an authentication page where you must login with the GMU netid and password. Complete the form indicating the responsible faculty and other required information.

NOTE: External collaborators can get access by following the same process as long as they have GMU credentials through affiliate status. This is normally done through the respective department.

New User tutorials

Before your access to running jobs on the cluster is activated, currently, new users have to complete the New User tutorial. After submitting the account request form, you will receive an email with details on how to access the New User Tutorial module. Only once you complete the module, including the completion form with the required information, does your account get activated and you’re able to submit jobs on the cluster.

ORC WALK-IN OFFICE HOURS

The current schedule for the ORC Walk-In Office Hours held regularly in Merten Hall Room 3112 are:

  • Mondays: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
  • Tuesdays: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
  • Wednesdays: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM
  • Thursdays: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM

Appointments can also be made to hold sessions online or at different times. Please submit a help request to orchelp@gmu.edu if you need to arrange a different time.

ORC by Appointment​

ORC can offer one-on-one or small group tutorials covering several topics, including SLURM job submission, Python, and R. Please submit a help request to set up an appointment.

Account Lifecycle

As part of its regular account lifecycle review, ORC deactivates accounts without active and current university affiliation. 

What does deactivation mean?

  • Your login will be disabled, and you will no longer be able to connect to the ORC HPC clusters.
  • You will not be able to access your own data or any other shared data. Your home and scratch directories can be accessed via Globus for the first six months after deactivation.
  • Your files and data will not be immediately deleted; they will be retained in place for six months, archived for six months after that, and deleted after a year.
  • If your account is reactivated within a year, access to your prior data may be restored.

What if you still need access to Hopper?

If you have an ongoing research need for Hopper and believe you should retain access, you may be eligible to continue under one of the following statuses:

  • Affiliate / Contractor — for external collaborators, visiting researchers, or contractors working with a GMU PI or department
  • Adjunct Faculty — if you maintain adjunct teaching appointment
  • Emeritus Faculty — if you are a retired faculty member with an active emeritus designation
  • Non-Student Worker — if you hold a current hourly or wage appointment at GMU

To request continued access, please contact your GMU sponsor (a current faculty member, PI, or department head) and ask them to submit applications to get the appropriate status.

Your sponsor will need to confirm your affiliation and the research purpose for which you need cluster access. Requests must be submitted quickly to avoid any interruption in access.

See Also