Allocations
Types of Allocations
Allocations on Frontera are managed by TACC, and are broken down into 4 tracks.
| Allocation Track | % of System Time | Size Range (SUs per year) | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leadership Computing Resource Allocations (LRAC) | 65% | 250,000 - 5 Million |
Large allocations, ready to immediately use up to ~5% of the annual capacity of the system (note, 1 SU = 1 node-hour on a regular compute node) |
| Pathways | 15% | 10,000 - 250,000 |
Projects that require, or will soon evolve to require, LRACs but which are not yet ready to compute (effectively) at that scale |
| Large-Scale Community Partnerships (LSCP) | 15% | 25,000 - 1 Million |
Projects that are formed around a large team or community, a large instrument, or other large NSF investment; extended allocations are available for 3 years |
| Director Discretionary | 5% | Up to 15,000 |
Allocations managed directly by the PI for local, educational, and industrial use that does not fit well into the other three allocation tracks (includes Startup allocations) |
Requests to the LRAC track are reviewed just once per year, with a due date of January 15. LSCP requests are accepted and reviewed annually. Allocation requests in the Pathways track are reviewed quarterly, with due dates on the 15th of December, March, June, and September. No deadlines apply to the Director Discretionary track.
Requesting an Allocation
Typically, new users request a Startup allocation, which falls under the Director Discretionary track. Limits for startup allocation requests differ based on which nodes will be used:
- up to 5,000 SUs for Frontera CPU nodes
- up to 100 SUs for Frontera GPU nodes
- up to 100 SUs for Lonestar6 GPU nodes (Texas researchers only)
Allocations for educational use are also available in the discretionary track, where the following limits apply:
- up to 15,000 SUs for Frontera CPU nodes
- up to 300 SUs for Frontera GPU nodes
- up to 300 SUs for Lonestar6 GPU nodes (Texas researchers only)
Before making a request, be sure to review the Allocation Submission Guidelines. Once you are ready, you can Request an Allocation through TACC.