Bede Documentation
There is extensive information on using Bede on the N8 CIR Bede Documentation Pages.
https://bede-documentation.readthedocs.io/en/latest/usage/index.html
User Information
Users of Bede are expected to read and accept the privacy policy. Recorded training to help you with using Bede can be found here.
Please remember that all work arising from the use of this facility should be properly acknowledged in presentations and papers with the following text:
"This work made use of the facilities of the N8 Centre of Excellence in Computationally Intensive Research (N8 CIR) provided and funded by the N8 research partnership and EPSRC (Grant No. EP/T022167/1). The Centre is coordinated by the Universities of Durham, Manchester and York."
Registering your Project
Access to the machine is based on projects, once you have been given a project number you can create an account to use the system. To do this:
- Identify an existing project, or register a new one
- Create an EPCC SAFE account and login to the SAFE system at: https://safe.epcc.ed.ac.uk/
- Once there, select Project > Request access from the web interface and then register against your project
How to Login
Bede offers an SSH service running on host bede.dur.ac.uk (which fronts the two login nodes, login1.bede.dur.ac.uk and login2.bede.dur.ac.uk). SSH should be used for all interaction with the machine (including shell access and file transfer).
The login nodes are shared between all users of the service and therefore should only be used for light interactive work, for example: downloading and compiling software, editing files, preparing jobs, and examining job output. Short test runs using their CPUs and GPUs are also acceptable.
Most of the computational power of the system is accessed through the batch scheduler, so computationally demanding applications should be submitted to it, see:
https://bede-documentation.readthedocs.io/en/latest/usage/index.html#running-jobs
Adding a deputy or co-PI
It is recommended that you appoint a deputy or co-PI. The process for nominating a project manager and elevating them to PI is as follows.
Each user can have a single account on Bede, but an account can join many projects by selecting Project > Request access from SAFE's menu. You will be asked to choose your user name. The request will go to the PI, who will receive an email to approve it.
- Once approved, the PI can nominate a user as a project manager, who will also be able to approve further accounts and other tasks.
- Once the account has been created, the user will receive an email describing how to retrieve the initial password, where the documentation is, and how to login to the system.
- The first time a user logs in, they will be forced to change their password.
To be promoted to project manager, the PI needs to log in to SAFE and:
- Select Project Admin > Modify Project from the menu
- Choose the appropriate project code
- Click on the big red "MANAGE" button at the bottom of the page
- Click on "Add project manager", then follow the prompts
Finding and Asking for Help
There are resources available that offer training for using Bede on its' resource page.
Each of the eight universities in the N8 Research Partnership has one full-time equivalent RSE dedicated to supporting Bede. We would advise researchers who may wish to use the system to contact the Bede RSE at their institution.
Each institution is organised slightly differently so there isn't a universal mechanism for contacting the Bede RSEs.