Public and Moderately Sensitive Data Storage

/home

/home is a free 50GB space provided to users of the Rivanna HPC system and is visible from the Rivanna login and compute nodes. /home is the default working directory when logging on to Rivanna. Users can also access their home directory at /home/$USER, where $USER is an individual’s UVa computing ID.

/scratch

/scratch is a Lustre high performance parallel filesystem accessible via the Rivanna login and compute nodes.

Rivanna’s scratch file system has a limit of 10TB per user. This policy is in place to guarantee the stability and performance of the scratch file system. Scratch is intended as a temporary work directory. It is not backed up and files that have not been accessed for more than 90 days are marked for deletion. Users are encouraged to back up their important data. Home directories and leased storage are not subject to this policy.

How to request /home and /scratch space

/home and /scratch space can be obtained by requesting an allocation on Rivanna. The process of getting access to Rivanna is described here.

Research Project Storage

The Research Project Storage file system provides users with a collaborative space for data storage and sharing. Members in the same group have access to a shared directory created by the team lead or PI. Group membership can be defined and managed through the Grouper (requires VPN connection). /project storage is mounted on the Rivanna HPC cluster and runs on a new scale-out NAS file system.

How to request /project storage space

/project storage can be purchased for $60
/TB/YR by using this form. When filling out the form, the PI can specify the size of the /project directory and the name of an existing or new Grouper group that can access this space. We recommend choosing a Grouper group name specific to your group or collaboration for the /project directory. This will reduce confusion in the future if you manage multiple Grouper groups and directories on other storage systems.

Once the request has been submitted, the PI will receive a notification that the /project space has been provisioned within 24 hours. Once the space becomes available, the PI can grant access to lab members by adding them to the Grouper group. Users in the Grouper group will see the directory (/project/Grouper_group_name) after logging into Rivanna. Addition and removal of users is managed by the PI of the group.

Note for PI’s creating a new Grouper group:

  • Specify “This group will be used for Rivanna access” in the description section of the Service Now request form to expedite group creation.

Data transfer

Public & Moderately Sensitive Data Transfer

Non-Sensitive Data Transfer

Secure Copy (scp)

scp uses secure shell (SSH) protocol to transfer files between your local machine and a remote host. scp can be used with the following syntax:

scp [source] [destination]

scp SourceFile mst3k@rivanna.hpc.virginia.edu:/scratch/mst3k

scp SourceFile mst3k@rivanna.hpc.virginia.edu:/project/Grouper_group_name

Detailed instructions and examples for using scp are listed here.

Secure File Transfer Protocol (sftp)

sftp is a network protocol for secure file management. Instructions and examples for using sftp are located here.

Graphical File-Transfer Applications

Filezilla and Cyberduck, and MobaXterm are examples of open source SFTP client software for file management through an interactive graphical user interface. Instructions for using these SFTP clients can be found here.

Globus Connect (Large Data Transfer)

Globus provides access to data on local machines and Rivanna file systems, as well as external institutions and facilities. Globus is well suited for transferring both small files and large amounts of data. More information on Globus data transfer can be found here.

Public & Moderately Sensitive Data Storage Systems

/home, /scratch, and /project storage are based on a Linux file system. Users can invoke generic Linux commands to manage files and directories (mv, cp, mkdir), manage permissions (chmod, chown) and navigate the file system (cd, ls, pwd). If you or your collaborators are unfamiliar with some of these commands, we encourage you to take time to review some of the material below: