How can someone use a supercomputer?
When I asked this question the team began speaking rather intently about something called “allocations”. An allocation is an allotment of time on a particular system, but it’s not quite that simple. You don’t walk in with a fist full of dollars and say “I have the money, I want five allocations”. There are several factors which weigh in on just who gets to use the equipment because there is a limited amount of computing power available for the many thousands of people desiring to use their equipment. The center is funded primarily by the NSF and is offered completely free to anyone desiring to use it, however there is a peer review process for applications. So, mostly because of the intense competition for access, it turns into a real process that must be gone through. For the majority of customers (even the university), allocations are submitted and reviewed on an annual basis. An entire year’s worth of supercomputing use must be accounted for at that time. The maximum proposal can on
