CBS Server - Requesting an account

Computational Brain Science Group Server

The Computational Brain Science Group Server is a new, local server system for those with computational neuroscience needs. The server is intended for research use only. There are fees for storage (per TB) and power user accounts, and PI’s that are paying for storage can have standard user accounts at no extra cost.


Setting up an account

New PI accounts

  1. You must use your valid uwo.ca email address when requesting an account.

  2. Please see below for the current and future fee schedules.

  3. It is easy to increase the size of storage allocations. Consider only asking for a nominal amount of storage to start with, as it is not easy to decrease the size of a storage allocation once it has been set up.

PIs looking to set up a new account should fill out the following Teams form: https://forms.office.com/r/dztbCVfNxk

New user (non-PI) accounts

  1. All user accounts must be associated with a pre-existing PI account.

  2. You must use your valid uwo.ca email address when requesting an account.

  3. Your PI will be charged for each ‘power user’ account, so please check with him/her to see if you need this functionality.

Non-PI users looking to get up a new account should fill out the following Teams form: https://forms.office.com/r/mdmWQ6qpep

Account types

  • Standard user account: 4 cores/8 GB (CBS Basic)
  • Power user account: 12 cores/32 GB (CBS Heavy)
  • Power user account: 12 cores/32 GB + GPU (CBS GPU 10GB)

Fee schedule

Full cost recovery prices * (reflects actual costs of operating the system)

  1. Storage - \$150/T/year
  2. First power user account - \$3000/year for first account, \$1500/year for each subsequent account

Through current CFI and BrainsCAN support, we can offer a 67% cost reduction, such that the charges are:

  1. Storage - \$50/T/year
  2. Power user account - \$1000/year for first account, \$500/year for each subsequent account

Note: With the purchase of storage, any number of Standard user accounts can be created.

* Please quote these full prices whenever factoring in costs for the server in grant applications.

Billing will be done on a fixed quarterly schedule.

After you have filled out the form

The information you provide in the Teams form will be forwarded onto Robarts IT, who will in turn set up your account. You will be emailed a password (userid will be the same as your UWO userid). We attempt to fulfill all new account requests within 1 business day of receiving the request, however, there may be delays if either Suzanne or Robarts IT is busy.

Note: After you receive your password, it may take an hour or so before all aspects of your account are functional.


Account changes

Do you need to make changes to your account? Use whichever form is appropriate.

  1. PIs needing to increase storage, create new project spaces, or update speedcode, please use this form: https://forms.office.com/r/Syb4tKN717

  2. Users (both PI and non-PI) wishing to request access to additional datashares, change account type (Basic or Power), update contract end date, or request access to project spaces, please use this form: https://forms.office.com/r/sQepNZDNqS


Need help?

support-cbs-server -at- uwo -dot- ca


Glossary

  • Default user account: Standard, free user account with access to 4 cores/8 GB
  • Power user account: Fee-based user account with access to 12 cores/32 GB + GPU
  • VDI-client: VMWare Horizon application
  • VM: Ubuntu virutal machine accessed via VMWare Horizon application
  • datashares: Backed-up storage drive tied to a PI’s account.

I think we should try to break this down into more digestible units, and tag each one with the appropriate tags.

At the least I think we should split between a post with all the signup google form links, and a post with how to do things on the server itself

In an effort to lessen the administration burden for creating and managing CBS server accounts, we are switching over from Google forms to Microsoft Teams forms. Please note the new links in the main post above and update any bookmarks or other documentation.

The Google forms will continued to be monitored during a 1 month transition period.