Access to the CISM (high performance computing and mass storage) infrastructure is granted to any individual who has ties with the University. Requesting access CISM is quite simple. Nevertheless, some rules apply, which are described below.

Access to the SMCS (interactive servers for statistical software) infrasctructure is subject to approval from the SMCS managers.

About high performance computing:

High performance computing concerns the 'legacy' clusters Green and Lemaitre as well as newer clusters which are shared with the CÉCI -- Note to get a CECI login, you need to go to www.ceci-hpc.be. The following rules apply:

• access is free ; cpu time is not charged per se and is limited only by fair share among users, disk space in home directories is free but limited;
• users are requested, at the end of the year, to provide a list of publications that were made possible thanks to the CISM infrastructure. See 'How can I thank you?' section in the FAQ;
• research groups (i.e. Departments, or 'poles' in French) whose members use the CISM infrastructure regularly are encouraged to designate a representative to the board ('Conseil de Gestion');
• research groups ('poles') may apply for more disk space in the home directories if they bear the associated costs (see mass storage below);
• research teams are welcome to participate financially in the acquisition of new equipment to which they have privileged access.

About mass storage:

Mass storage is managed exclusively by the CISM and is provided at true cost. The following rules apply;

• usage is charged at the end of the year to research groups ('poles');
• users need approval from the head of the research group ('pole') who accepts to bear the costs.

The prices for the current year are detailed here (French).

About statistical servers

The statistical servers are managed by the CISM jointly with the SMCS. Consequently,

• users need approval from the SMCS to be granted access to those servers, and
• SMCS rules apply

Login creation howto

Step one: go to the login creation webpage. This webpage is accessible ONLY FROM a university network and is best viewed with a recent browser.

Warning: the webpage is encrypted through SSL but some older browsers might not recognize the certificate. As a consequence, your browser may, the first time you connect, issue a warning. You are safe to ignore that warning as long as you make sure that the URL is "www.cism.ucl.ac.be/login".

Browser	Message	Action to take
Internet Explorer 6	The security certificate was issued by a company you have not chosen to trust.	Click 'Yes'
Internet Explorer 7 Internet Explorer 8	There is a problem with this website's security certificate.	Choose 'Continue to this website (not recommended)'
Firefox 2	Unable to verify the identity of brain.cism.ucl.ac.be as a trusted site	Choose 'Accept this certificate permanently' and click 'OK'
Firefox 3	The certificate is not trusted because it is self signed.	Click 'Or you can add an exception...' then 'Add Exception', 'Get Certificate', Confirm Security Exeption'
Firefox 7	This connection is not certified.	Click 'I understand the risks...' then 'Add Exception', and 'Confirm Security Exception'
Safari	Safari can't verify the identify of the website "www.cism.ucl.ac.be"	Click 'Continue'
Chrome	The site's security certificate is not trusted!	Click 'Proceed anyway'

Step two: fill in the text box with your email address and click 'Send'. You will receive an email with a unique URL. Click it (or copy/paste it in your browser's address bar if the link is not clickable in your email program.)

Step three: fill in the form.

The first frame concerns your personnal information. Please provide your first and last names, the login you would like to use (one is suggested automatically), and your phone number. You also need to provide with the email address of your supervisor, or of a trusted contact person who can make decision about your jobs/data in case you cannot be reached in time. See the popup that arises when you hover that text box for more information. You also have to choose (and repeat) a password that is complex enough (see details from the popup that arises when you hover that text box.)

In the second frame, indicate which services you request. Computing is ticked by default. If you would like to access the SMCS computers, tick the 'Statistical computing' box.

If you need mass storage space, tick the 'Mass storage' box. You then need to enter the email address of the person to which the bill for your storage usage should be sent.

In the third frame, choose which institute (left-most column) and which department ('pole' - right-most column) you belong to. If you are with the SGSI, or ARCV, choose accordingly in the left-most column. Researchers who come from other universities should choose 'Non-UCL' in the left column and then choose their university in the right-most column

Finally, choose either 'Save', if you are interrupted and want to complete the submission later on, or choose 'Submit' to submit your application.

Step four: wait until you receive an email indicating that your account has been activated. In the mean-time, have a look at the FAQ, which holds very important information.