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High Performance & Scientific Computing

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)


What are the ISAAC compute resources?

The University of Tennessee provides ISAAC high-performance computing resources to faculty, staff, and students. Managed by the Office of Information Technology’s High-Performance & Scientific Computing (OIT HPSC) group, ISAAC offers two primary clusters:

  • ISAAC Next Generation (NG) for Open Research: This cluster consists of 202 compute nodes equipped with 14,064 CPU cores, and 29 GPU nodes with NVIDIA H100, V100S, and A16 GPUs, all connected to 3.6 petabytes of Lustre storage.
  • ISAAC Secure Enclave for Secure Research: Designed for sensitive data processing, this cluster features 49 nodes and a dedicated Lustre storage capacity of 1.7 petabytes.

Detailed information about specific node types within each cluster is available on the “Available Resources” page, which is accessible via the HPSC home page by navigating to “Overview” > “Available Resources.”

How do I access ISAAC resources?

UT personnel can request access through the ISAAC User Portal by going to the HPSC home page and clicking “Request an ISAAC Account” in the left-hand navigation. For detailed information, please see our “Requesting an Account.”

Do you offer trainings or workshops on how to use ISAAC resources?

Yes, the HPSC website offer a variety of training resources and tutorials to help you get started. You can find them in the “Workshops and Trainings” section under “Overview” in the left-hand side menu. 

How do I use conda on ISAAC-NG to create a new Python environment?

Creating a New Python Environment with Conda:

  • Load Anaconda Module: Before using conda, you typically need to load the Anaconda module available on isaac-ng. You can do this with the following command in your terminal:
    module load anaconda3/2023.09
  • Create New Environment: To create a new environment, you use the conda create command followed by the -n flag to specify the name of your environment and then specify python and its version if required. For example:
    conda create -n myenv python=3.8

Replace myenv with your preferred environment name and 3.8 with the desired Python version.

  • Activate Environment: Once created, you need to activate the new environment to use it:
    conda activate <path-to-env>
  • Install Packages: With your environment activated, install any necessary packages using conda install or pip install within that environment:
    conda install numpy
  • Deactivate Environment: When done working in your environment, deactivate it with:
    conda deactivate

For more information, please visit Anaconda User Guide on ISAAC-NG page.

How do I request a new project?

UT Faculty can request project accounts to get dedicated storage space on ISAAC-NG. Faculty must set up an ISAAC Account before (see above) requesting a project account.

  1. Go to the HPSC home page (https://oit.utk.edu/hpsc/) and click “User Portal” in the left-hand navigation.
  2. On the following page, click the button that says: “Click here to request a new project, to be added/removed from an existing project, or to have a project directory created.”
  3. Then, click the button that says: “Request a new project on the ISAAC Next Gen Cluster.”
  4. Fill Out the Form: Complete all required fields with accurate information about your project.
  5. Submit Your Request: Click “Request an ISAAC Project” at the bottom.
  6. Wait for Approval: Once submitted, your request will be reviewed. The review process may take up to 24 hours.

For full details, see: https://oit.utk.edu/hpsc/overview/requesting-an-account/

How do I get access to an existing project?

To gain access to an existing project, follow these steps:

  1. login to the User Portal using your NetID and password
  2. From Projects section, look for the “Click here to request a new project, to be added/removed from an existing project, or to have a project directory created” button
  3. Choose “Request to be added to an existing project“
  4. Enter the Project ID that you need access to, and then submit your request
  5. Once submitted, your request will go through an approval process where the PI must confirm your addition to the project.
  6. After approval, you will receive confirmation via email along with any necessary instructions or credentials needed for accessing the project’s resources.

For more information please visit the Requesting an Account page.

How do I start a Jupyter notebook on Open OnDemand?

  1. go to the HPSC page.
  2. Click on “Open OnDemand” button from the left hand side navigation menu.
  3. Enter your NetID and password to login
  4. From the top menu, click on “Interactive Apps” and choose “Jupyter Notebook”
  5. Fill in the required infoinformation and click on “Launch”
  6. Wait for your session to start
  7. When it says “Running“, click on “Connect to Jupyter”
  8. Start a new notebook or access an existing one.

For more information, please visit Open OnDemand User Guide on ISAAC-NG page and check “Jupyter notebook” and “Open OnDemand Examples” sections

How do I use scientific software on the cluster?

  • Check Available Modules Once logged in, show the available modules:
module avail
  • Load the Module When you find the module you want to use, load it:

module load <module_name>

Replace <module_name> with the actual name of the module.

  • Verify Module Is Loaded To make sure that the module is loaded correctly, you can use:

module list

  • Using The Software After loading the module, you should be able to run commands associated with that software.
  • Unload The Module (If Needed) If at any point you need to unload a module, you can use: 
module unload <module_name>

For more information, please visit the Available Software page

How do I submit a batch job in the Slurm workload manager?

Use sbatch command to submit a job script to request the needed resources

sbatch <jobscript_name.sh>

For more information, please check the “Submitting Jobs with Slurm” section from the Running Jobs page

Can new research data be directly uploaded to the project space? (globus)

Yes, research data can be uploaded to a project’s space using the Data Transfer Nodes.

Please check the Data Transfer on ISAAC-NG page and navigate to the Globus sections for more information.

What are the procedures for requesting installation of new software on ISAAC-NG systems?

To request a new software, please submit an HPSC service ticket by clicking the (Submit HPSC Service Request) from the left hand side navigation menu of the HPSC page.

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