This page contains pointers to web-based forms which may be used to renew existing projects, add/delete users to/from existing projects, create new projects, and request additional resources on SCV supported systems.

We also have a page where current principal investigators and users can monitor their projects/accounts, such as seeing current usage of both CPU time and Project Disk Space.

Current principal investigators with existing projects should follow this link to access forms to add/delete users, update/renew a project, request additional processor time, or request/purchase additional Project Disk Space on the Shared Computing Cluster (SCC).

Note on Boston University ID numbers:
Many of the forms will ask for your Boston University ID number. If you are a member of the BU community or have previously been given a BU ID number, please enter your University ID number. If you do not have a BU ID number, we will issue you a BU ID number which you should keep a record of. All ID numbers are treated confidentially.

Brief instructions on using the forms to maintain existing projects and create new ones

Note: Once you provide all of the necessary information on any of these forms and submit them, you should get a message back indicating that “Your application has been submitted.” Until you get this message, your application has not been submitted and likely some kind of error occurred in processing your application. Read messages returned carefully to see what might be wrong and what to do to correct it. Contact us if you have difficulties.

Applying to have a new project created on the SCF
If you are a current BU faculty or research staff member you should go here and fill out the form. Fill out all requested information, even if you are already a principal investigator on another project. Carefully read any messages you get back after clicking on Submit to make sure your submission was accepted. Your account will be created on the Shared Computing Cluster (SCC). Once your project has been approved, you will appear on the Principal Investigator (PI) list and through this you will be able to add additional user accounts to your project.

Undergraduate or graduate student interested in a startup account
For students not associated with an existing SCF project and interested in startup accounts (limited to a few months and very limited CPU resources), we have created a startup project which we can add you to. Please send email to help@scc.bu.edu if you are interested in this. For those students working closely with a professor on a project that they expect to go on for quite a while, they should not take this option and instead have their professor create a normal research project.

Renewing an existing project
Principal investigators should go here (accessing this page will require your BU login and Kerberos password), select your login ID from the list, and then select the “Renew” option for the project you wish to renew and then fill out the form. Select Active on the form to have your project continue. Also, indicate which of your current users are still on your project and answer all other questions on the form. Projects must be renewed once a year.

Adding a user to an existing project
There are separate forms for adding internal users (current BU undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, staff, and postdocs) and external users (all others including those who had a past affiliation with BU).

Principal investigators should go here (accessing this page will require your BU login and Kerberos password), select your login ID from the list, and then select the appropriate “Add User” option for the project you wish to add someone to and then fill out the form. Enter the name of the person you wish to add, his/her BUID (if he/she has one), login name (if he/she has one), and other requested information. Carefully read any messages you get back after clicking on Submit to make sure your submission was accepted. Accounts are created on the Shared Computing Cluster (SCC).

Deleting users from an existing project
Principal investigators should go here (accessing this page will require your BU login and Kerberos password), select your login ID from the list, and then select the “Delete users” option for the project you wish to delete users from. You should then fill out and submit the resulting web form. For each person you wish to delete, simply change the indicator under “Delete User?” from No to Yes. You may also use this form to (un)set the expiration date for each user on your project. Note that your own name will not be included on the list as we generally require principal investigators to have an account on their own project.

Change (or create) an expiration date for a user on one of your projects
Principal investigators should go here (accessing this page will require your BU login and Kerberos password), select your login ID from the list, and then select either the “Delete users” or “Renew/Change Project” option from the list. You should then fill out and submit the resulting web form. Either of these forms will allow you to alter or create an expiration date for a user on your project. The “Delete users” form is somewhat simpler to use. This allows you to note in advance that a user will only be on your project for a limited period of time (for example, only during the summer).

Requesting additional CPU allocation for an existing project
Principal investigators should go here (accessing this page will require your BU login and Kerberos password), select your login ID from the list, and then select the “Request additional CPU allocation” option from the list, and then fill out the form. This form should be used to request additional CPU allocation beyond the amount you initially requested when you created (or last renewed) the project. These requests will be reviewed and you should make sure to fully fill out the form with the reasons for your request.

Reviews for large requests can take up to several months to process but accounts will remain fully active, even with a negative CPU balance, while this review takes place so as long as you have submitted a request for additional CPU time, you should absolutely keep working, even if you have a negative balance.

Request additional free/Buy-in Project Disk/STASH allocation for an existing project
Principal investigators should go here (accessing this page will require your BU login and Kerberos password), select your login ID from the list, and then select the “Request additional free/Buy-in Project Disk/STASH allocation” option from the list. You should then fill out and submit the resulting web form. All research projects are granted a default initial allocation of Project Disk Space when they are created. This form should be used to request additional free Project Disk or STASH space, up to a maximum of 200GB of backed up space and 800GB of not backed up space. It should also be used if you are part of a Buy-in ‘pool’ to assign space from that pool to one of your projects. You can also purchase/rent additional space for a shorter term using the alternative form to ‘Purchase “Storage as a Service” Project Disk/STASH allocation’. There is additional information on Project Disk Space and STASH space.

Purchase “Storage as a Service” Project Disk/STASH allocation for an existing project
Principal investigators should go here (accessing this page will require your BU login and Kerberos password), select your login ID from the list, and then select the ‘Purchase “Storage as a Service” Project Disk/STASH allocation’ option from the list. You should then fill out and submit the resulting web form. The minimum purchase amount is 1 TB and the cost is $91/TB/Year.

Change your local SCF password or your shell
Anyone with a BU Kerberos password can use it to authenticate and thus change your local SCF password or your shell.

For those who don’t have a Kerberos password or can’t remember it, you can deal with that here.

Send questions and comments to scfacct@bu.edu.