# Discussion Zone **URL:** https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/c/area-for-open-ended-topics-of-interest/23.md [Latest](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/latest.md) · [Categories](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/categories.md) · [Tags](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/tags.md) --- ## [About the Discussion Zone category](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/about-the-discussion-zone-category/210)
**Author:** [@jma](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/jma)\ **Replies:** 0
Pose topics for discussion and respond to any threaded discussions. --- ## [How does you institution approach liquid cooling of data centers?](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/how-does-you-institution-approach-liquid-cooling-of-data-centers/4438)
**Author:** [@jfossot](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/jfossot)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [June 4, 2026, 3:45pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/how-does-you-institution-approach-liquid-cooling-of-data-centers/4438 "2026-06-04T15:45:33Z")
Reasoning and Approach To summarize liquid cooling strategies, I analyzed the email discussion among institutional IT and HPC leaders regarding their approaches, experiences, and considerations for implementing liquid co… --- ## [What solution is used by your institution to document Research Computing Activities?](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/what-solution-is-used-by-your-institution-to-document-research-computing-activities/4437)
**Author:** [@jfossot](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/jfossot)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [June 4, 2026, 3:17pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/what-solution-is-used-by-your-institution-to-document-research-computing-activities/4437 "2026-06-04T15:17:52Z")
This summary reflects the collective experience and advice of research IT professionals, providing a practical reference for organizations seeking to improve their documentation solutions. To create a brief report of th… --- ## [How to manage Performance issues when using VSCode to connect to an HPC login node](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/how-to-manage-performance-issues-when-using-vscode-to-connect-to-an-hpc-login-node/4408)
**Author:** [@jfossot](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/jfossot)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [March 7, 2026, 8:42pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/how-to-manage-performance-issues-when-using-vscode-to-connect-to-an-hpc-login-node/4408 "2026-03-07T20:42:07Z")
The core problem: VSCode users connecting to an HPC login node cause performance issues, mainly through heavy file I/O (VSCode’s file watcher crawls the filesystem aggressively). Recommended solutions, in order of popul… --- ## [Multi-user ArcGIS Pro for sensitive research data—what's working at scale?](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/multi-user-arcgis-pro-for-sensitive-research-data-whats-working-at-scale/4380)
**Author:** [@mitchellxh](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/mitchellxh)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [January 5, 2026, 11:42pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/multi-user-arcgis-pro-for-sensitive-research-data-whats-working-at-scale/4380 "2026-01-05T23:42:12Z")
We’re trying to provide shared ArcGIS Pro access to researchers working with high-risk data (PHI-adjacent, contractually confidential). Currently running persistent Azure VMs (bundles Windows OS license unlike AWS). Woul… --- ## [Rules of Thumb for setting fs.max-files in parallel file systems?](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/rules-of-thumb-for-setting-fs-max-files-in-parallel-file-systems/4204)
**Author:** [@ndanes](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/ndanes)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [April 6, 2025, 5:38pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/rules-of-thumb-for-setting-fs-max-files-in-parallel-file-systems/4204 "2025-04-06T17:38:45Z")
We recently had our entire BeegFS file system get corrupted due to the a sudden blow-up of IOPS. The error logs included, for example: \[root@oss1 ~\]# grep "Apr 5" /var/log/messages | grep "Too many open files" | wc -l … --- ## [Containerize code for f77](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/containerize-code-for-f77/4105)
**Author:** [@sasmita](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/sasmita)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [October 24, 2024, 1:25am UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/containerize-code-for-f77/4105 "2024-10-24T01:25:53Z")
Containerizing Jobs for f77 - Best Practices or Guides? --- ## [Tell me, why I should use Anaconda instead of Python Virtual Environment?](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/tell-me-why-i-should-use-anaconda-instead-of-python-virtual-environment/4054)
**Author:** [@jfossot](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/jfossot)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [September 17, 2024, 1:44pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/tell-me-why-i-should-use-anaconda-instead-of-python-virtual-environment/4054 "2024-09-17T13:44:49Z")
By my experience, setting up a conda environment is as complicated as it can get and I have to remember certain things to be able to activate and deactivate the environment. Also, the environment has to be turned on for … --- ## [Anaconda license situation at your site?](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/anaconda-license-situation-at-your-site/4005)
**Author:** [@RonRahaman](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/RonRahaman)\ **Replies:** 4\ **Last updated:** [September 4, 2024, 2:27pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/anaconda-license-situation-at-your-site/4005 "2024-09-04T14:27:08Z")
Hi all, Our site is trying to deal with Anaconda’s ongoing changes to its terms of service, which might make it prohibitively expensive to provide Anaconda as a software module on our clusters. Have any of your sites d… --- ## [Why Am I Unable to See My Post Live?](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/why-am-i-unable-to-see-my-post-live/4024)
**Author:** [@Joyes](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/Joyes)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [September 1, 2024, 11:37am UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/why-am-i-unable-to-see-my-post-live/4024 "2024-09-01T11:37:05Z")
Hello there, Recently I posted a thread: https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/looking-for-suggestions-for-effective-data-management-techniques/4019/1 I got a notification that left me disappointed as it shows my co… --- ## [Creative-commons or public domain images for HPC / research computing related illustrations](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/creative-commons-or-public-domain-images-for-hpc-research-computing-related-illustrations/3818)
**Author:** [@wirawan0](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/wirawan0)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [July 17, 2024, 1:18pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/creative-commons-or-public-domain-images-for-hpc-research-computing-related-illustrations/3818 "2024-07-17T13:18:05Z")
Is there a repo of “FOSS” images, icons, etc. for HPC & research-computing related illustrations? Having such a repo is nice so we could use/reuse/modify those graphics for presentations, training materials. Especially u… --- ## [Container metadata & discovery aid](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/container-metadata-discovery-aid/3529)
**Author:** [@wirawan0](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/wirawan0)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [July 1, 2024, 3:55pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/container-metadata-discovery-aid/3529 "2024-07-01T15:55:29Z")
Question: How can we store description / information about the container in a way that is easy for users to discover? While container technology such as Singularity/AppTainer provides a nice way to aid reproducibility o… --- ## [Resources for working with Snakemake on HPCs](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/resources-for-working-with-snakemake-on-hpcs/3154)
**Author:** [@Amccrillis](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/Amccrillis)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [June 27, 2024, 12:07am UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/resources-for-working-with-snakemake-on-hpcs/3154 "2024-06-27T00:07:46Z")
When I started my project on building a Snakemake workflow for a bioinformatics pipeline, I wasn’t super familiar with Snakemake and how it worked. One resource that I found to be very helpful when first learning Snakem… --- ## [HPC Training Resources](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/hpc-training-resources/197)
**Author:** [@wirawan0](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/wirawan0)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [May 23, 2024, 5:53pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/hpc-training-resources/197 "2024-05-23T17:53:52Z")
Looks like training and education in the HPC/research computing realm needs its own place. This will be an area where one asks questions about approaches in training and education. --- ## [How do I create my own cluster?](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/how-do-i-create-my-own-cluster/856)
**Author:** [@vsoch](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/vsoch)\ **Replies:** 5\ **Last updated:** [May 23, 2024, 5:35pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/how-do-i-create-my-own-cluster/856 "2024-05-23T17:35:17Z")
I’ve been seeing posts around like this and I’m genuinely interested in what it takes to create your own little cluster. A lot of these discussions start with the assumption that I have a crapton of old equipment lying a… --- ## [Using anaconda.org to find software (Promoted Locale Entry)](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/using-anaconda-org-to-find-software-promoted-locale-entry/1970)
**Author:** [@jma](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/jma)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [May 23, 2024, 5:23pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/using-anaconda-org-to-find-software-promoted-locale-entry/1970 "2024-05-23T17:23:47Z")
The NAU team posted this excellent write up of how they use Anaconda to find software. What does your institution recommend? (Click on the caret in the top right corner to read the post inline and the post your reply her… --- ## [Resources for GPU and Google JAX programming](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/resources-for-gpu-and-google-jax-programming/3133)
**Author:** [@sam\_dt](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/sam_dt)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [May 17, 2024, 2:27pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/resources-for-gpu-and-google-jax-programming/3133 "2024-05-17T14:27:23Z")
When I first started my project in Google JAX, I knew that that Google JAX was a pretty new coding library made for GPUs and that examples and teaching materials would be scarce for that. And in addition, I was pretty ne… --- ## [Containerizing Jobs for OSG - Best Practices or Guides?](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/containerizing-jobs-for-osg-best-practices-or-guides/3117)
**Author:** [@ChuckP](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/ChuckP)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [May 6, 2024, 8:08pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/containerizing-jobs-for-osg-best-practices-or-guides/3117 "2024-05-06T20:08:49Z")
All - One persistent concept I have been pushing to my clients is developing reproducible submission scripts / jobs for computation being done on PSU’s HPC system and elsewhere with the intention of leveraging OSG system… --- ## [Prevent CPU-only Jobs running on GPU nodes](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/prevent-cpu-only-jobs-running-on-gpu-nodes/2696)
**Author:** [@DelilahM](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/DelilahM)\ **Replies:** 6\ **Last updated:** [April 26, 2024, 7:59pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/prevent-cpu-only-jobs-running-on-gpu-nodes/2696 "2024-04-26T19:59:26Z")
Hi All, Does anyone have any experience configuring SLURM that prevents cpu-only jobs running on GPU nodes? TIA Delilah --- ## [Genomic (or generic) work pipeline and data managers?](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/genomic-or-generic-work-pipeline-and-data-managers/3118)
**Author:** [@ChuckP](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/ChuckP)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [April 21, 2024, 6:58pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/genomic-or-generic-work-pipeline-and-data-managers/3118 "2024-04-21T18:58:49Z")
At PSU ICDS, I am getting frequent requests for bioinformatic and genomics pipeline support. We have deployed several for users such as Galaxy (usegalaxy.org) and many folks just do scripted python. I was wondering wha… --- ## [What is "Cyberinfrastructure" -- seeking for a layman-friendly definition](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/what-is-cyberinfrastructure-seeking-for-a-layman-friendly-definition/3045)
**Author:** [@wirawan0](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/wirawan0)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [April 18, 2024, 3:49pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/what-is-cyberinfrastructure-seeking-for-a-layman-friendly-definition/3045 "2024-04-18T15:49:03Z")
Ok folks. Of all questions, I would like to pose this: “What is cyberinfrastructure?” if we want to have this explained to and understood by common academic people, e.g. explain it at the level of undergraduate students. … --- ## [Enable remote access for HPC without a science DMZ](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/enable-remote-access-for-hpc-without-a-science-dmz/3076)
**Author:** [@izzat.alsmadi](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/izzat.alsmadi)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [April 17, 2024, 4:28pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/enable-remote-access-for-hpc-without-a-science-dmz/3076 "2024-04-17T16:28:29Z")
Hello Champions In our campus, we have our first HPC cluster, typical GPC/CPU computing nodes. We currently don’t have a budget to build a science DMZ. Our ITS are not allowing remote access to the cluster because of … --- ## [Options for hosting training material and sample scripts](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/options-for-hosting-training-material-and-sample-scripts/3100)
**Author:** [@milechin](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/milechin)\ **Replies:** 0\ **Last updated:** [March 22, 2024, 3:36pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/options-for-hosting-training-material-and-sample-scripts/3100 "2024-03-22T15:36:18Z")
I have some general questions about hosting and distributing training materials at your institution. How are you hosting and distributing your digital training material about your HPC system or general programming top… --- ## [How do containers differ from virtual machines with regards to their function and resource utilization?](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/how-do-containers-differ-from-virtual-machines-with-regards-to-their-function-and-resource-utilization/2827)
**Author:** [@aolawal](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/aolawal)\ **Replies:** 3\ **Last updated:** [March 11, 2024, 2:45pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/how-do-containers-differ-from-virtual-machines-with-regards-to-their-function-and-resource-utilization/2827 "2024-03-11T14:45:35Z")
How do containers differ from virtual machines with regards to their function and resource utilization? --- ## [Standard way(s) of launching MPI executable program?](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/standard-way-s-of-launching-mpi-executable-program/3044)
**Author:** [@wirawan0](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/wirawan0)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [March 11, 2024, 1:50pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/standard-way-s-of-launching-mpi-executable-program/3044 "2024-03-11T13:50:29Z")
I want to poll the community to gather knowledge on one very basic thing: What is the standard way of launching an MPI executable program? Is this pretty universally acceptable across different clusters, different job sc… --- ## [HPC software management - how does your institution do it?](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/hpc-software-management-how-does-your-institution-do-it/2650)
**Author:** [@andrew.monaghan](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/andrew.monaghan)\ **Replies:** 11\ **Last updated:** [November 21, 2023, 11:07am UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/hpc-software-management-how-does-your-institution-do-it/2650 "2023-11-21T11:07:32Z")
Dear colleagues, CU Boulder Research Computing is in the planning stages of re-thinking how we manage and install software on our HPC cluster. To date, we have largely installed software packages “by hand” (as opposed t… --- ## [Parallel Debuggers: which do you choose?](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/parallel-debuggers-which-do-you-choose/2949)
**Author:** [@nucci](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/nucci)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [October 11, 2023, 7:13pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/parallel-debuggers-which-do-you-choose/2949 "2023-10-11T19:13:51Z")
Greetings. For many years we have offered our users a choice of parallel debuggers on our clusters. We’re looking to reduce the number of offerings to reduce system complexity, training requirements, financial costs, et… --- ## [Multi-instance GPU](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/multi-instance-gpu/1710)
**Author:** [@wirawan0](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/wirawan0)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [October 1, 2023, 2:05am UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/multi-instance-gpu/1710 "2023-10-01T02:05:53Z")
Hi folks, the new Ampere A100 GPU supports “multi-instance GPU”, i.e. allowing a GPU to be partitioned so multiple people can use the GPU to maximize throughout of computations. Other than Ampere A100, any other cards or… --- ## [Application-agnostic vs application-aware HPC scheduling](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/application-agnostic-vs-application-aware-hpc-scheduling/2961)
**Author:** [@ShrutiDongare](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/ShrutiDongare)\ **Replies:** 1\ **Last updated:** [September 29, 2023, 9:49pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/application-agnostic-vs-application-aware-hpc-scheduling/2961 "2023-09-29T21:49:17Z")
If an HPC scheduler possesses knowledge about the job-specific characteristics of running applications, would this information significantly enhance the accuracy of runtime predictions and improve various performance par… --- ## [What current and future threats do the existence of AI such as ChatGPT pose to the fields of Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Software engineering, Data science, Bioinformatics etc](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/what-current-and-future-threats-do-the-existence-of-ai-such-as-chatgpt-pose-to-the-fields-of-computer-science-cybersecurity-software-engineering-data-science-bioinformatics-etc/2828)
**Author:** [@aolawal](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/u/aolawal)\ **Replies:** 2\ **Last updated:** [September 29, 2023, 8:19pm UTC](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/t/what-current-and-future-threats-do-the-existence-of-ai-such-as-chatgpt-pose-to-the-fields-of-computer-science-cybersecurity-software-engineering-data-science-bioinformatics-etc/2828 "2023-09-29T20:19:07Z")
What current and future threats do the existence of AI such as ChatGPT pose to the fields of Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Software engineering, Data science, Bioinformatics etc [Next page](https://ask.cyberinfrastructure.org/c/area-for-open-ended-topics-of-interest/23.md?page=1)