Rackham end-of-life
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After many years of service, the time is approaching when Rackham will be too old to keep running. Rackham will be shut down on 2024-12-31. Before we say anything else, we want to express a deep appreciation for each of our users — it is you that made this system so meaningful and pushed us to the limit in so many ways.
This is why we have made plans for your future, and why the UPPMAX staff are contacting you now. Please continue reading to learn about what will happen to your compute and storage projects and how we plan to help you transition to a new system.
The NAISS system that we believe is the best choice for most of our users is Dardel, at PDC (KTH) in Stockholm. UPPMAX and PDC have, with blessing from NAISS, started a collaboration to ensure that Dardel will host a suitable environment for your work, and that the move is as smooth as possible.
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The plan is as follows:
- Starting in October 2023, new and continuation projects on Rackham and Crex will automatically receive accompanying allocations on Dardel and Klemming.
- PI:s receiving such allocations will receive instructions and guides for moving their data and on how Dardel works.
- Starting 2024-01-01, no Rackham projects will be granted for the full 12 months. No allocations or extensions are possible after 2025-01-01. Your project on Rackham, and all remaining data on Crex, will be completely gone at the end of next year.
- Around February or March 2024, we will grant Dardel and Klemming allocations to all active Rackham projects.
- By November 2024, we expect that nearly all users will have moved their data from Crex.
- On December 31, 2024, we shut down Rackham and Crex, and anything that remains there will be lost.
Dear friends, there are hundreds of projects on Rackham and Crex. UPPMAX staff will have their hands full keeping the old systems running, while helping PDC prepare Dardel for you and set up a new system for Uppsala University. We will rely on you to help us help you.
To help us and to make your own lives easier, please read your emails from UPPMAX and PDC. Please be proactive and, when you receive your project on Dardel, start moving your data early. Use the guides and follow the instructions that we will send you.
FAQ:
What about UU researchers? UPPMAX has been assigned the task to acquire and set up a moderately sized system like Rackham to meet needs of local users. If you, as a Uppsala University researcher, do not wish to move to Dardel and instead wish to use the new local system, then please let us know in your proposal.
What about Snowy? The system mentioned above will replace Snowy. It will meet the needs of education and local compute and storage for research, plus cloud-like services.
What about Bianca users? While NAISS has decided on a 10 MSEK investment to guarantee continued sensitive data capacity, the exact use of these funds is currently still under discussion. UPPMAX, together with the support team at NBIS, will continue to maintain an environment that is as similar as possible on all NAISS systems with many life science users, so that, e.g., pipelines running on mice or cell lines will also work on clinical data. The same is true for the NGI system, Miarka — our ambition is that things should keep working as usual.
What about Lutra/Offload Storage? Lutra will continue to be available to everyone who has purchased space, at the very least through SSH. Since NAISS-funded (free to use) compute and storage will no longer be available at UPPMAX after 2024, we understand that some use-cases for Lutra will no longer be possible for groups outside of Uppsala, and we are prepared to discuss options with you if you contact us.
What about software/pipelines/long single-core jobs/etc on Dardel? Both UPPMAX and PDC are probably already working on it. When you get on Dardel, let us know what you need in order to work, and we will make sure it is done by the time Rackham is shut down. In the meantime, use Rackham to do research, move your data to Dardel, and adapt your workflows.