Cipres Science Gateway

The XSEDE CPU Hr Usage printed in the task creation area is a measure of your level of resource use during the current allocation cycle (July 1, 2014– June 30, 2015). Each job run on the CIPRES Science Gateway consumes computational resources. Each registered user is allowed 30,000 CPU hrs per year Use of a single processor core for 30,000 hours; 10 processor cores for 3,000 hours, and so forth. Users at institutions in the US are allowed 50,000 CPU hrs.

The cpu hrs (technically core hours) displayed are the sum of:

  • the actual time used by your jobs that have finished since July 1, 2014. When a job finishes, CIPRES calculates the usage for that job based on how long the job ran. If, for some reason, CIPRES is unable to tell how long a job ran, the job may be assigned a charge of 0 temporarily.  The actual charge is ultimately imported from the XSEDE accounting database. 

  • a reserve to cover the usage by any submitted jobs that are currently queued or running.  We assume queued and running jobs will run for the maximum configured time. On submission of each job, we subtract this amount from the CPU hrs remaining in your account. If the queued/running jobs end sooner, or if you cancel them before they finish, the charge will be adjusted, as the reserve is released.

When you submit a job, the estimated CPU hrs may not show up in the total immediately. You may need to wait a minute and refresh the page. The total CPU hrs consumed may increase or decrease as jobs complete, when reserves are released and the actual number of CPU hrs used is determined.

To help with planning, job creation interfaces provide an estimate of the number of CPU hrs each job will require, assuming it runs for the maximum time specified in the interface.

*Usage above the 50,000 CPU hr level is permitted for users in the US, and users with collaborators in the US, but such users must request a personal allocation from the XSEDE allocation committee. We can help with this process. If you are using CIPRES with a personal allocation, please be aware that the CPU hr total displayed in the interface will not include jobs charged to your personal allocation.

Individuals at institutions outside the US who do not have collaborators are not eligible to receive personal allocations from the XSEDE project, but they are eligible to purchase additional CPU time on a fee-for-service basis. 

For more information, please see the CSG Fair Use policy. If you have questions, please contact us.