HECToR

Cost of Access to HECToR

Allocation Units

All projects are allocated budgets on HECToR for compute time and disk space. There is a notional cost associated with the compute time used on the service. No specific charge is made for other things - disk space, courses, helpdesk, etc. In your application you will specify the amount of time you need, and the J-eS software will calculate how much the compute time will cost your Research Council.

Calculations use a standard Allocation Unit of CPU time, which will be constant throughout the service. The Allocation Unit (AU) can be thought of as a unit of computational work, equivalent to a 1 Gflop/s processor running for 1 hour, as assessed by the Linpack benchmark (Rmax). Thus, a 60 Tflop/s computer provides 60,000 AUs per hour.

The same AU is will used to measure CPU time in grant applications, in the HECToR SAFE accounting procedures and on the system itself, throughout the service. However, there will be number of different components in the system, and the system will be progressively upgraded, so that there will be a variety of different processors at different times; because of this, the relationship between the AU and the CPU hour will vary.

The amount of AUs required varies depending on the individual project. Guidelines on how to calculate your AU requirements are included in the application form. Some projects may only require a few hundred thousand AUs, whereas other projects may require many millions.

Costs per AU

The initial cost of HECToR was shared between BBSRC, EPSRC and NERC. These are referred to as Partner Research Councils. The other Research Councils are charged at a higher rate.

Scalar AU Rates

* The configuration is not yet fixed for Phases 2b and 3. The AU rates above are therefor subject to change

Costs per AU for Partner Research Councils

Costs per AU for other Research Councils