> CÉCI storage

The common CÉCI storage offers both

  • a home directory automatically created for each user with a quota of 100GB ; and
  • a project directory for teams that request it through the CÉCI project management system.

The directories hosted on the the CÉCI storage are available from

  • any login and compute node of the CÉCI clusters, and
  • the login node and compute nodes of Manneback, and
  • the login nodes of Lucia.

Access and conditions

Access to the CÉCI storage is free of charge, but it is not unlimited. The home directory is meant for storing small files such as scripts, configuration files, and small datasets. The project directory is meant for storing data related to the project, but it is not meant for long-term storage of large amounts of data. For long-term storage of large amounts of data, please refer to the mass storage section.

Project directories are created upon request through the CÉCI account management system and are linked to a corresponding user group.

Warning

Projects can only be requested by principal investigators who hold a permanent position at a CÉCI member university.

To request a project directory, please head to https://login.ceci-hpc.be/init-project/ and fill in your CÉCI login and the requested project acronym. The acronym should be short and meaningful, and it should not contain spaces or special characters. You will then receive an email with a link to a form to fill. In that form, you will need to provide the name of the project, a short description of the project, and the list of users who should have access to the project directory. You will also need to specify the expected volume of data and number of files to be stored in the project directory, and the expected duration of the project. Projects are created for a duration of one year, but they can be renewed.

Note

The number of files should be kept reasonable (between 100.000 and 200.000 per TB). The CÉCI storage is not designed to host millions of small files, and doing so can cause performance issues. If you need to store a large number of small files, please pack them in an archive or a container.

File transfer

To copy a file to the CÉCI storage from a CÉCI cluster, you can use the cp command and the appropriate paths. The path to your home directory is the path of your cluster home directory prefixed with /CECI. You can refer to it using the $CECIHOME environment variable. The path to the project directory will have the form /CECI/proj/ and then the project acronym.

For instance, to copy myfile.txt from your CÉCI home directory to the directory of project `superscience, you can use the following command:

cp $CECIHOME/myfile.txt /CECI/proj/superscience/

To copy a file from another server (e.g. mass storage) or your local laptop, you can use the same method as described in the CÉCI documentation for copying files, while makeing sure to set the CÉCI home or CÉCI project as destination.