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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nyc-ai.app/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

Using CSI HPCC means agreeing to CUNY’s acceptable-use, privacy, and IT security policies. This page summarizes the rules most likely to trip up new users. Where it disagrees with official CSI/CUNY policy, the official policy wins.

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Acceptable use

  • Comply with CUNY policy. The CUNY Acceptable Use of Computer Resources policy governs everything on HPCC systems. Illegal activity, harassment, and any use that violates CUNY’s code of conduct is prohibited.
  • Don’t share accounts. Your credentials are personal. If another person needs access, they should get their own account. Shared accounts are suspended on discovery.
  • Credit HPCC in publications. Every paper, poster, thesis, or report that used CSI HPCC resources must include the acknowledgement below, and a paper copy of the finished work must be sent to the helpline.

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Citing CSI HPCC

Because the center’s compute infrastructure is funded in large part by NSF, acknowledgement is not optional. Include the following statement in the acknowledgements section:
This research was supported, in part, under National Science Foundation Grants: CNS-0958379, CNS-0855217, ACI-1126113 and OAC-2215760 (2022) and the City University of New York High Performance Computing Center at the College of Staten Island.
After publication, email a PDF (or mail a paper copy) to HPCHelp@csi.cuny.edu. The center uses the list of publications to report outcomes to its funders and to justify future hardware renewals.

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The login-node rule

Jobs are never to be run on the head (login) node. Any job found running there will be killed, and the owning account may be suspended. Log in, edit files, and submit SLURM jobs. That’s what the login node is for. Anything heavier runs through sbatch or srun.
If you need an interactive shell on a compute node for debugging, use srun --pty (see Job submission).

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Passwords

Passwords must meet CUNY’s password policy:
  • At least 8 characters long.
  • All four character classes: uppercase, lowercase, digit, and an approved special character.
  • Case-sensitive.
If your password expires or you get locked out, email the HPC Helpline for a reset.
Password expiration intervals, renewal windows, and any multi-factor requirements are set by CSI IT. Confirm current specifics on the HPCC Wiki before publishing dates here.

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Data security

  • Regulated data (HIPAA, FERPA, IRB-protected, export-controlled, etc.) must not land on HPCC systems without explicit clearance from HPCC staff and your compliance officer. Not every partition is configured for sensitive workloads.
  • Keep backups off-cluster for anything you can’t afford to lose. /scratch is not backed up and is purged; /global/u is backed up but tape restore is not instantaneous.
  • Encrypt in transit. Always use SSH / SFTP / SCP / Globus. Plain FTP and Telnet aren’t available and shouldn’t be.
  • Don’t store credentials in code. ~/.ssh/id_*, API keys, and other secrets belong in files with chmod 600, not in scripts that land in a git repo.

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Software licensing

Commercial software (MATLAB, Intel compilers, domain-specific codes) is licensed for academic use only. Don’t redistribute binaries, license files, or outputs that include license-restricted material. When in doubt, ask the helpline whether a particular use is permitted.

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Account lifecycle

Accounts are created for a specific project and user. They may be suspended or closed when:
  • The associated project ends.
  • The user leaves CUNY.
  • The account has been inactive long enough to trigger automated cleanup.
  • The account has violated policy.
Data on suspended accounts is not retained indefinitely, so copy out anything you want to keep before you leave.

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Incident reporting

If you see something that looks like an incident (a compromised account, suspicious processes, a policy violation), email HPCHelp@csi.cuny.edu with “SECURITY” in the subject. Escalate serious incidents to the CSI IT Help Desk as well.

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Accessibility

This documentation aims to meet WCAG 2.1 AA. If you encounter a barrier, such as screen-reader trouble, color-contrast issues, missing alt text, or keyboard navigation problems, let us know so it can be fixed.