Our clusters use the Linux Operating system as their core together with some add-on tools provided by the San Diego Super Computing Center. Together the complete package as known as ROCKS. Since UNIX is the core of the operating system part of the process of wielding the power of the cluster is learning how use the various UNIX provided, and other commands to manipulate your data.
To There are a number of resources available to help in this processOur clusters are Linux based, so to get the maximum use of them you'll need to become familiar with the UNIX command line, which is a powerful text based interface which lets you type in commands to the computer for evaluation. This can be a bit of a barrier to getting your work done, but with perseverance you can learn enough UNIX to be at least able to use the cluster. While we can answer some quick, "how do I do this", or "why is this" type questions, in the long term it's better that you bite the bullet and get this done. Here are some resources that we have run across:
- Computer Sciences offers a beginners UNIX course, CS108 (and as well various 1 hour programming classes in C++, Perl, Ruby, Python, etc. This are all offered un CS105 Programming Languages)
- The Texas Advanced Computing Center or TACC offers a UNIX class every semester.
- O'Reilly and Assocates publishes very good books that range from beginner to reference. In particular, Learning the UNIX Operating System is very good.Computer Science offers CS 108: UNIX, 1 hour course that is meant for beginners. If you don't take the class you might sit in, or get the book Linux: The Textbook which is pricey, but also very good.
- Several people have taken courses offered by Perl Source Informatics but they can be pricey.
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Initially when you use the cluster you can use some of our pre-canned scripts. After awhile you will probably be interested in write your own, or perhaps you will be forced to do so. While you can continue to use our scripts as templates for your own you might also want to get some books on scripting, and programming. First, you can get quite decent scripting done just by learning more about the shell we use which is the BASH shell. O'Reilly and Associates ahs a book on BASH which is called Learning the BASH Shell. This would also be useful for people wanting just to learn more about the powerful things they can do on the command line, or who want more information about the things they can do to customize their environment. They also have books on Perl, and Python for people interested in using BioPerl, or BioPtyhon. Computer Science also has Perl, Python, C++, and possibly other programming classes listed under the CS 105 class headinghttp://x.cygwin.com/. You will also want to read our documentation on the SGE Batch|display/CCBB/Sun+Grid+Engine||\ system which you will use to submit jobs to the cluster.Labels parameters
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