Getting Started with Jetstream2

This workshop targets researchers and educators, even those with no previous cloud computing experience. Attendees will hear an overview of Jetstream2 (including various examples and use cases), learn about the ACCESS ecosystem, and learn helpful tips and tricks. Hands-on activitities will include how to access Jetstream2 and how to access and launch VMs on it through the Exosphere interface.

As research and education advance, so does their need for advanced computational resources. Through the Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Coordination Ecosystem: Services & Support (ACCESS) program, advanced computing resources are being shared with researchers and educators for free, among them Jetstream2.

Jetstream2 is an NSF-funded user-friendly cloud computing environment for researchers and educators running on OpenStack and featuring Exosphere as the primary user interface. It is built on the successes of Jetstream and continues the main features of that system while extending to a broader range of hardware and services, including GPUs, large memory nodes, virtual clustering, and many other features. It is designed to provide both infrastructure for gateways and other “always on” services as well as to give researchers and educators access to interactive computing and data analysis resources on demand.

Jetstream2 is funded by the National Science Foundation. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant 2005506. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Objectives: 

By the end of this workshop, attendees will be able to:

• Identify the various use cases of Jetstream2 and distinguish the unique advantages of cloud-based computing.
• Apply for an ACCESS allocation and exchange credits for use on Jetstream2
• Log into an allocation and be familiar with the Exosphere interface.
• Provision and access basic resources like instances and volumes.
• Launch popular applications like Matlab, R Studio, and Jupyter
• Effectively manage resources to maximize credit usage.

Agenda:

• Introduction
  • What is Jetstream2? Whom is it for?
  • How to apply for an allocation
  • Allocation credits and resource providers
• Getting access to Jestream2
  • Logging in to Exosphere
• Break
• Using Jestream2
  • Creating an instance
  • Logging in to your instance
  • Using the software collection to load popular applications
  • Attaching volumes for data storage
  • Transferring Data to and from your instance
  • Saving and Sharing Images
  • Shelving your instance

Prerequisites:

• An ACCESS account. Go to https://identity.access-ci.org/new-user (Links to an external site.) and use one of the two options listed there to create your ACCESS account.
• Attendees need added to an allocation. Once you have created your ACCESS account and registered for the workshop, fill out the form sent to you in the registration confirmation email from IT Training.
• For in-person trainings, bring a laptop or contact the organizers in advance to borrow a laptop.