Our next maintenance is scheduled for Monday, April 3, 8 AM–12 PM. This will be a full cluster & MariaDB shutdown, for which ALL jobs and sessions will be terminated. Please plan appropriately.

During the maintenance window:

• You will not be able to log in to the HBSGrid via terminal or NoMachine.
• You will not be able to log in to the MariaDB database server.
• Globus transfers will be temporarily halted.
• All interactive and batch jobs, as well as database sessions, will be terminated.

What work is being performed and why?

• • We will apply security patches to all nodes in the cluster. These changes ensure the safety and stability of our environment.
• • A storage array volume snapshot will be made for the MariaDB server.
• • We will apply FairShare to the gpu and gpu_int queues. This will prevent users from hoarding GPU resources and allow users to get on the GPU node more equitably.
• • We will enforce gpu_int usage. Interactive jobs submitted to the gpu queue will be rejected; they must use gpu_int. This will allow us to better monitor long pending jobs in the gpu queue.
• • We will release version 2022.11 of Grid 3.0. This ensures that researchers have access to the latest features; SEE BELOW for more information, as ACTION MAY BE REQUIRED on your part.
• • StatTransfer 16 will be installed. Please see below for more information.



Grid 3.0 Release 2022.11

We are pleased to release an update to Grid 3.0 that will ensure that researchers have access to recent software releases and features. Please see our HBSGrid documentation for detailed information about the new software and versions available.
Python and R Users: If you have custom packages or modules for Python or R installed in your home directory, you will need to update them in order to continue using them. If you need assistance or have any questions, please contact us at research@hbs.edu.

Using StatTransfer 16

StatTransfer 16 will be available on the HBSGrid cluster after the maintenance. We will release an update to Grid 3.0 shortly to include this. If you wish to start using it right away, you may access it via terminal, either in NoMachine or a shell session.

We thank you for your anticipated cooperation as we make improvements to the HBSGrid. Our next maintenance will occur on Monday, May 1. If you have any questions/comments, please email us at research@hbs.edu.

RCS, along with our IT partners, are excited to announce the upcoming replacement of our HBSGrid account and project space provisioning system effective April 10, 2023. This upgrade will significantly improve the speed, efficiency, and automation of creating and maintaining HBSGrid accounts and project spaces. Features include:

• New and improved forms to request accounts and project spaces
• Streamlined guest HBSGrid account creation
• Automated emails to approve account and project space creation/maintenance

You can learn more details about what to expect from the new system in our HBSGrid documentation.

To successfully migrate existing accounts and project folders to the new system, RCS will be unable to fulfill any requests for new HBSGrid accounts or project folders, or make changes to existing project folders (e.g., add additional people or storage space) between April 3 and April 7. Your ability to use existing HBSGrid accounts and project spaces will be uninterrupted during this time.

If you anticipate that you or a guest user will need a new HBSGrid account or new project space, please submit your request by noon on March 30th. While you may submit requests during the outage, they will not be fulfilled until the system is back online.

What will change for users on April 10th?

We will be retiring our old account and project space request forms. Instead, you will use new forms to request new spaces and accounts. Note that if you typically access forms from the Online Requests tab of our website, you can continue to do so; when the new system is live, we will update these links.

HBSGrid guest accounts (i.e., accounts for users who do not have HBS credentials) and all HBSGrid project spaces must have an approved HBS sponsor, usually a faculty member. The new system makes it easier than ever for sponsors to approve account requests and project space members by simply clicking a link in an email.

Our planned work for April will include security patches and updates of all machines in our environment, requiring system restarts. Accordingly, this will be a full cluster & MariaDB shutdown, and all interactive and batch jobs will be killed – please plan appropriately. We will send more details about the maintenance next week.

We thank you for your cooperation and if you have any questions/comments, please email us at research@hbs.edu.

Our next maintenance is scheduled for Monday, March 13, 8 AM–12 PM.

During the maintenance window:

• You will not be able to log in to the HBSGrid via terminal or NoMachine.
• All interactive jobs and disconnected NoMachine sessions will be terminated.

What work is being performed and why?

• We will apply security patches to login, Globus, and queue nodes. These changes ensure the safety and stability of our environment.
• We will apply bug fixes to address problems with LSF when using GPUs. This will fix some bugs and ensure that we have access to continuing support.

We thank you for your anticipated cooperation as we make improvements to the HBSGrid. Our next maintenance will occur on Monday, April 3. If you have any questions/comments, please email us at research@hbs.edu.

IT has been working with RCS to upgrade our MariaDB server. After limited testing, we have already noticed increased performance and are pleased that we will be able to bring these improvements to users.

The upgraded system will go live on Tuesday, February 28. Please be aware that users will experience a short outage that day (specific time TBA). Additionally, we ask that starting Thursday, February 23rd, you do not import any databases to avoid extending the possible outage time. If this is a concern for you, please contact RCS (research@hbs.edu) so that we can work with you through the upgrade process and minimize interruption to your work.

Please note that after the update has taken place:

• Your MariaDB password will be the same as your HBS password.
• The new hostname will be "rhrcssql1.hbs.edu"; you will need to update your client's saved settings, your ".my.cnf" files, and any code that you may have connecting from the HBSGrid with the new hostname.

Please be on the lookout for more information next week. We thank you for your cooperation and wish you the best of luck in your research!

Our next maintenance is scheduled for Monday, February 6, 8 AM–12 PM. This will be a full cluster & MariaDB shutdown, for which ALL jobs and sessions will be terminated. Please plan appropriately.

During the maintenance window:

• You will not be able to log in to the HBSGrid via terminal or NoMachine.
• You will not be able to log in to the MariaDB database server.
• Globus transfers will be temporarily halted.
• All interactive and batch jobs, as well as database sessions, will be terminated.

What work is being performed and why?

• We will apply security patches to all nodes in the cluster. These changes ensure the safety and stability of our environment.
• A storage array volume snapshot will be made for the MariaDB server.
• We will reconfigure the GPU node queues to separate interactive and batch sessions (see below for more information).
• We will release MATLAB 2022b. This ensures that researchers have access to the latest features; see below for more information.

Attention GPU users:
We have created a gpu_int queue for you to submit interactive GPU-using sessions to. Separating the batch vs interactive sessions will allow us to better monitor PENDing problems for starting interactive sessions. At this time, its use is voluntary, and we will update our Grid-3.0 interface shortly to support this. After several weeks, we will reconfigure 'gpu' to only accept batch jobs; please keep an eye out for this announcement. We hope this change will improve your experience as we keep a closer eye on real-time events.

MATLAB 2022b now available
MATLAB 2022b is installed and will be available on the HBSGrid cluster after the maintenance. We will release an update to Grid-3.0 shortly to include this. If you wish to start using it right away, open a terminal window in NoMachine (or your shell session in your favorite X-Windows software), enter "module load matlab/2022b" and then matlab-5g, matlab-10g, matlab-20g, or a bsub command with the appropriate options for your needs.

We thank you for your anticipated cooperation as we make improvements to the HBSGrid. Our next maintenance will occur on Monday, March 6. If you have any questions/comments, please email us at research@hbs.edu.

Our planned work for February will include security patches and updates of all machines in our environment, requiring system restarts. Accordingly, this will be a full cluster & MariaDB shutdown, and all interactive and batch jobs will be killed – please plan appropriately. We will send more details about the maintenance next week.

We thank you for your cooperation and if you have any questions/comments, please email us at research@hbs.edu.

Our next maintenance is scheduled for Monday, January 9, 8 AM–12 PM.

During the maintenance window:

• You will not be able to log in to the HBSGrid via terminal or NoMachine.
• All interactive jobs and disconnected NoMachine sessions will be terminated.

What work is being performed and why?

• We will apply security patches to login, Globus, and queue nodes. These changes ensure the safety and stability of our environment.
• We will apply Stata updates. This will fix some bugs and ensure that researchers have access to the latest features.

We thank you for your anticipated cooperation as we make improvements to the HBSGrid. Our next maintenance will occur on Monday, February 6. If you have any questions/comments, please email us at research@hbs.edu.

RCS will be closed for the Harvard-wide winter holiday break from Friday, December 23, through Monday, January 2. General help requests may not be addressed until we return on Tuesday, January 3.

If you have an emergency or immediate concern during the break, please contact our Senior Director, Paul DiBello, directly by email at pdibello@hbs.edu or by phone at 203-530-4291. You can also find help on this website.

We wish you a safe and happy holiday season!

Our next maintenance is scheduled for Monday, December 5, 8 AM–12 PM. This will be a full cluster & MariaDB shutdown, for which ALL jobs and sessions will be terminated. Please plan appropriately. ...

During the maintenance window:

• You will not be able to log in to the HBSGrid via terminal or NoMachine.
• You will not be able to log in to the MariaDB database server.
• Globus transfers will be temporarily halted.
• All interactive and batch jobs, as well as database sessions, will be terminated.

What work is being performed and why?

• We will apply security patches to all nodes in the cluster and the MariaDB server.
• We will apply Globus patches to update server components and apply new encryption certificates.

These changes ensure the safety and stability of our environment.

We thank you for your anticipated cooperation as we make improvements to the HBSGrid. Our next maintenance will occur on Monday, January 9. If you have any questions/comments, please email us at research@hbs.edu.