What to ask here
Ask.CI is for people using and/or managing research computing systems at any level and professionals in related fields. We welcome questions about the broad range of subject matter that this covers including:
- Understanding research computing and cyberinfrastructure (CI) concepts.
- Understanding research data management concepts— yes, even though we have “computing” in the name, our scope includes “data”, as well.
- Software problems related to building, installing, or using in a research computing environment.
- So-called “Newbie” questions— yes, we welcome questions from everyone with any background in research computing, whether you’re a “newbie” or a seasoned veteran.
- Questions about workflow design and best use of computing/storage resources.
- Questions about which software packages are more performant and scale out for specific algorithms (i.e. the implementation and not the equation).
What might be better asked elsewhere
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Physics, engineering and research questions. It is great to ask about models and techniques as related to using software on clusters or understanding computing architecture, but concepts of a specific field of research might be better answered on a Q&A platform specific to that field
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Technical support specific to a system (unless the institution has set up an Ask.CI locale), such as “can you increase my quota”, “can you change file permissions on a file for me”, “when will X filesystem be fixed”, etc. Such questions should be directed outside of this Q&A site to those employed by the institution or computing resource in question, or help desk that provides support for your cluster.