Since the ACD Intelligent Computing Cluster (HPC Phase III) at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) began its trial operation on January 26, 2025, it has received enthusiastic usage and positive feedback from faculty and students. The HPC team would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all the teachers and students. Thanks to the relentless efforts of the project team, the system has undergone continuous debugging and optimization, and as of April 2025, the platform's operation has become stable.
I. Official Launch Notification
To further improve the efficiency of high-performance computing resource utilization and better serve the vast number of users on campus, the HPC Phase III platform will officially launch on May 6, 2025. On the day of the launch, billing for computing and storage resources will begin. Please refer to the attachment for detailed pricing information.
Before the official launch, all users are asked to pay attention to the following matters:
1.Testing Account Deactivation: From the date of this notification, the platform will stop issuing testing accounts. After the official launch, testing accounts will not be able to submit new computing tasks.
2.Formal Account Application: Users who participated in the preliminary testing and wish to continue using the HPC Phase III platform resources must submit a formal application and log in using their SSO account.
3.Data Migration: To prevent data loss caused by subsequent data cleanup of testing accounts, users who hold testing accounts must migrate important data to their formal user accounts by May 31, 2025.
4.Formal Machine Rental Application: Users who applied for machine rentals during the trial period and wish to continue renting must also submit a new formal machine rental application to confirm the quantity and duration of the rental.
Service application methods:
l Students: One-stop service hall - HPC AI platform application – Service activation application / Machine rental application
l Faculty and Staff: DingTalk OA approval - IT services - HPC AI Intelligent Computing Platform service application – Service activation application / Machine rental application
II. Maintenance Shutdown for May Day
To ensure that the platform can operate stably and efficiently after the official launch, the HPC team will conduct maintenance work on the platform cluster from 20:00 on April 30, 2025, to 24:00 on May 5, 2025. The specific impacts are as follows:
1.During the maintenance period, the HPC Phase III platform user portal (https://hpc3login.hpc.hkust-gz.edu.cn/) and SSH will be inaccessible.
2.All jobs in the SLURM cluster will be stopped (including running and queued jobs). User home directory data (/data/user/<username>) will not be affected, but it is recommended to back up important data.
3.All jobs in the AI cluster will be stopped (including running and queued jobs). Data related to artificial intelligence modules (datasets, images, projects, conda environments, personal spaces, etc.) will not be affected, but it is recommended to back up important data.
We kindly ask all users to make the necessary arrangements in advance. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding and cooperation.
If you encounter any problems or need any assistance, please feel free to contact us at <hpc@hkust-gz.edu.cn>.
Information Technology Department (ITD)
April 22, 2025