Join Us for September People Network Calls

Mark your calendars for these upcoming People Network virtual meetings. (For handy calendar entries, try the CaRCC Events Calendar.)

Data-Facing Track (first Tuesdays)

Tuesday, Sept 1, 1p ET/ 12p CT/ 11a MT/ 10a PT

An Institution-wide Examination of Data Needs: NSF EPOC Deep Dive at the University of Cincinnati

The Engagement and Performance Operations Center: Overview and Opportunities. The Engagement and Performance Operations Center (EPOC), funded by the US National Science Foundation, is a collaborative focal point for operational expertise and analysis jointly lead by Indiana University (IU) and the Energy Sciences Network (ESnet). The Center enables researchers to routinely, reliably, and robustly transfer data through a holistic approach to understanding the full pipeline of data movement to better support collaborative science. Through its measurement and monitoring work, as well as associated service advice and training, it brings together multiple knowledgeable and experienced science engagement teams.

A University’s Point of View. The University of Cincinnati was fortunate to be one of the first EPOC Deep Dive locations.  We will 1) share the process we used to collect the data/case studies from the researchers before the onsite visit from EPOC, 2) the two-day visit with the EPOC team and 3) outcomes, challenges and opportunities for implementation of the recommendations.

Researcher-Facing Track (second Thursdays)

Thursday, September 10, 1p ET/ 12p CT/ 11a MT/ 10a PT

Supporting Researchers in the Cloud: One University’s Approach

A presentation led by Cyd Burrows-Schilling, Alan Moxley, and Harry Zhou from UC San Diego

University of CA San Diego has developed a consolidated billing approach to commercial cloud accounts, under a single Master Payer Account for Amazon Web Services (AWS), along with spend discounts and saving opportunities. Beyond account logistics and savings, their Research IT team has taken a lead role in shifting facilitation to the cloud. They’ll discuss handling the research-owned accounts, assisting PIs with best practices, and some time-saving approaches in administration. The team will also explore the added benefit of technical expertise in available cloud services; how those services are either similar or different from on-prem solutions; and how a good understanding of faculty research/researchers is at the foundation of how UC San Diego supports their researchers in the commercial cloud world.

Emerging-Centers Track (third Wednesdays)

Wednesday, September 16, 12pm ET/ 11am CT/ 10am MT/ 9am PT/ 7am HT

RCD Professionalization Working Group presents the Job Elements and Career Guide, by Scott Yockel, Harvard University

People across a range of roles support research computing and data (RCD) services; the community of people in these roles is evolving into  a distinct profession, and is widely understood to be an integral part of scholarly research. The RCD Professionalization* working group is supporting this evolution of thought through a series of targeted initiatives. Our vision is to develop and disseminate frameworks, models, and approaches that can be used by institutional leaders in Human Resources, Information Technology, Research, and Teaching & Learning, as well as by practitioners, to support and elevate RCD roles as distinct and highly-valued career paths. 

Research Computing and Data Professionals Job Elements and Career Guide (draft, 28 April 2018) 

Systems-Facing Track (third Thursdays)

Thursday, September 17, 1p ET/ 12p CT/ 11a MT/ 10a PT

Overview of HPC File Systems and One Site’s Experience, discussion facilitated by Alex Younts, Purdue University

Storage is never large enough or fast enough. There are many different options out in the marketplace, from old timers to hip startups, and they are all equally unobtainable for our budgets. This presentation will provide an overview of some popular options (BeeGFS, Lustre, and GPFS), and the presenter will start a discussion with some tales of hope and sorrow from many file system deployments at Purdue University.

Interested members of the People Network need not subscribe to a particular track to participate in calls. Additional details for track members, including notes documents and any pre-call activities, will be distributed ahead of the call via the email lists and other communication channels within each track.

The CaRCC (Campus Research Computing Consortium) People Network, aims “to foster, build and grow an inclusive community (termed the “People Network”) for campus CI, research computing and data professionals.” If you have received this email NOT via CaRCC’s People Network, and you would like to join the People Network, which includes Researcher-facing, Data-facing, Systems-facing, and other tracks, please fill in the form at http://bit.ly/join_carcc_people_network.

All calls will take place within the same Zoom room distributed via email. Please join the People Network (link just above) or contact help@carcc.org for details.

Capabilities Model Data Submission Deadline Extended to Sept 27, 2020!

Thanks to all the attendees and participants in the Capabilities Model activities at PEARC this year!

Following the CaRCC Town Hall, the Caps Model paper presentation, and the full-day Capabilities Model workshop, we had an overwhelming number of new downloads for the tool. Because of this and the feedback from those institutions already working through the Model, we are extending the data submission deadline to September 27, 2020. We hope the extra time will allow everyone to complete the Model and meet the 2020 community data submission deadline.

To learn more about the Capabilities Model: RCD CM webpage
Start here document: Capabilities Model Introduction and Guide to Use
To request your institution’s copy of the Model: Access Request Form

Upcoming Office Hours:
Tuesday, Aug 25th 11am-1pm ET / 10am-12pm CT / 9-11am MT / 8-10am PT
Thursday, Sept 17th 2-4pm ET / 1-3pm CT / 12-2pm MT / 11am-1pm PT
Tuesday, Sept 22nd 11am-1pm ET / 10am-12pm CT / 9-11am MT / 8-10am PT

For help: capsmodel-help@carcc.org

Original blog post: Announcing the RCD CM 2020 Community Data participation window

Something Different for August – Joint Track Calls!

For August, we’ll do something a little different, with two opportunities for cross-track conversation. (These are in lieu of track-specific calls, which are otherwise canceled for August.)

PEARC20 After-Party: August 4th @ 1:00pm-2:00pm ET 

(at the usual Data-Facing track meeting time)

Be sure to join at the top of the hour to finalize topic-based breakout rooms. We’ll use a Blackboard Collaborate session, which has a feature for breakout rooms that participants can move between, freely. Potential breakout topics suggested by our track coordinators are listed below:

  • Conference Feedback
  • RCD Professionalization
  • New Applications Tech
  • New Systems/Services Tech
  • Communicating about RCD Resources
  • Review of Sessions about CaRCC Activities
  • Happy Hour (whatever that means to you)

The Blackboard Collaborate session and a Google Doc for notes have been shared via email to the entire People Network, as well as a calendar invite. If you did not receive these and would like to join the call, please contact help@carcc.org

Service Models for Researcher-Purchased Computing and Storage: August 20th @ 1:00pm-2:30pm ET

(at the usual Systems-Facing track meeting time)

Description: The term “condo” is an umbrella term for an increasingly common family of service models for research computing and data storage in higher education. However, the way this design pattern manifests can vary greatly from one institution to another, and there’s no single answer for the right way to implement computing and data capacity for-purchase. The purpose of this call will be to discuss approaches to researcher-purchased capacity from a variety of perspectives, including systems professionals, support and facilitation professionals, researchers, and other stakeholders.  Discussion areas will include ownership models, funding and purchase strategies, user experience/policy considerations, hosting and operational support, etc.  Discussion will consist of a panel format with a series of short site introductions by representatives of diverse service models, followed by a longer Q&A.  To accommodate the multiple perspectives and facets, this call will be 90 minutes long.

Zoom coordinates (usual) have been distributed via email to the People Network email list, or can be requested via help@carcc.org.

Announcing the RCD CM 2020 Community Data participation window

Version 1.0 of the Research Computing and Data Capabilities Model (RCDCM) was released in Spring of 2020. We will aggregate contributed assessment data from the community, and make this available in the Fall. If you complete an institutional assessment and contribute your results to the 2020 Community Data collection by August 30 (deadline extended to September 27) you will get access to the detailed version of the data, allowing you to benchmark your institution’s program relative to peer institutions.

We know there is broad interest in having a community dataset. 88% of the institutions who have requested to use the Assessment tool listed “Benchmarking of current service offerings” as an intended use of the model. Users of the model are fairly diverse: as of early summer, there are over 70 institutions representing 32 states, both public and private, and a mix of R1s, R2s, and institutions with emerging research programs. As more institutions participate, the more useful the Community Cata collection becomes!

Continue reading “Announcing the RCD CM 2020 Community Data participation window”

Catch CaRCC at PEARC20!

The PEARC20 Virtual Conference (July 27-31) has posted the schedule that includes many great workshops, tutorials, presentations, and panels.  

Here are some of the CaRCC-related activities you won’t want to miss:

Join Us for July People Network Calls

Mark your calendars for these upcoming People Network virtual meetings. (For handy calendar entries please try the CaRCC Events Calendar.)

Data-Facing Track (first Tuesdays)

Tuesday, July 7, 1p ET/ 12p CT/ 11a MT/ 10a PT

What data to keep? — Making decisions about confocal microscopy data

Presenters: Huajin Wang, Librarian/ Program Director for Open Science & Data Collaborations, Carnegie Mellon University Libraries and Susan Ivey, Research Data & Infrastructure Librarian, NC State University Libraries

As the quantity and volume of data produced by research increases exponentially, it has become increasingly challenging to preserve and reproduce data. Traditionally, researchers have often created their own workflows and their own data storage solutions, but this is no longer sustainable, making collaborations and data sharing challenging. On the other hand, data librarians are tasked with helping researchers share and preserve their data, but understanding specific types of data and how to maximize reuse can be difficult. Large and complex data exist in a variety of disciplinary areas, and one example is confocal microscopy data. In April 2019, the Data Curation Network held their 2nd Data Curators Workshop at Johns Hopkins University. Susan Ivey, Amy Koshoffer, Gretchen Sneff, and Huajin Wang formed a group to address many of these issues associated with confocal microscopy data. During this July’s Data-Facing Call, we’ll go into detail about common workflow and challenges that researchers face when working with confocal microscopy data and give an overview of our “Confocal Microscopy Data: A Primer for Curators,” which we created to help those tasked with curating this type of data. We’ll also present some of the use cases that we used to inform this work and invite the audience to think about how to best preserve and share these data.

Researcher-Facing Track (second Thursdays)

Thursday, July 9, 1p ET/ 12p CT/ 11a MT/ 10a PT

Big Data, Big Compute Solutions, a community discussion

Continue reading “Join Us for July People Network Calls”

RCD Capabilities Model Office Hours for Summer and Early Fall

Have questions about how to get started with the Research Computing and Data Capabilities Model? Or are you already working with it and just want to discuss the process, or a particular aspect of the assessment tool? Join working group members at one of our upcoming Office Hours to get help, ask your questions, and share your experiences! Office Hours for Summer and into Fall are scheduled for:

Thurs June 1811 a.m.-1 p.m. PT / 1-3 p.m. CT / 2-4 p.m. ET
Tues June 238 a.m.-10 a.m PT / 10 a.m.- Noon CT / 11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET
Thurs July 1611 a.m.-1 p.m. PT / 1-3 p.m. CT / 2-4 p.m. ET
Tues July 218 a.m.-10 a.m PT / 10 a.m.- Noon CT / 11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET
Thurs Aug 2011 a.m.-1 p.m. PT / 1-3 p.m. CT / 2-4 p.m. ET
Tues Aug 258 a.m.-10 a.m PT / 10 a.m.- Noon CT / 11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET
Thurs Sept 1711 a.m.-1 p.m. PT / 1-3 p.m. CT / 2-4 p.m. ET
Tues Sept 228 a.m.-10 a.m PT / 10 a.m.- Noon CT / 11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET

Call Coordinates (Zoom):
Due to the recent trend in ZoomBombing, please contact the WG Chairs for the Zoom call information, and please include your name and affiliation.

People Network Meetings in June

Mark your calendars for these upcoming People Network virtual meetings. (For handy calendar entries, see the CaRCC Events Calendar.)

Researcher-Facing Track (second Thursdays)

Thursday, June 11th, 1p ET/ 12p CT/ 11a MT/ 10a PT

Topic: How are we doing? A discussion on philosophies/culture, approaches, and tools for understanding creation of knowledge, metrics, and impact 

Our recent calls, from handling support requests via various tools/modes, to remote work for support/consultations and training, to working with your (remote) team in this unprecedented time, have been an unexpected but fruitful journey. This month we close the loop: from your overall efforts of the team — both internal- and external-facing work — and via processes and tools, what is your philosophy on and how are you measuring your activities and impact? What information do you gather around internal- or researcher-facing activities? Are you using approaches or tools that harness NLP, ML, or predictive analytics? And do you have specific goals that you strive towards? Join us and share. 

Emerging-Centers Track (third Wednesdays)

Wednesday, June 17, 12pm ET/ 11am CT/ 10am MT/ 9am PT/ 7am HT

Continue reading “People Network Meetings in June”

People Network Virtual Meetings in May!

Mark your calendars for these upcoming People Network virtual meetings.
(For handy calendar entries please try the CaRCC Events Calendar. NEW Zoom call details distributed via email!)

Special Multi-Track Call, May 20: Student Workers: Community Panel

Data-Facing Track, Emerging-Centers Track, Systems-Facing Track

Wednesday, May 20, 12pm ET/ 11am CT/ 10am MT/ 9am PT/ 7am HT
Note: The Data-Facing and Systems-Facing calls will NOT happen at their normal times in May; please join the joint call above instead.

Join us for a community panel on effectively incorporating student workers into research computing and data groups.  Topics will include: hiring, development, structuring student positions, work assignments, challenges, managing remote work, and training.  Bring your questions for the panelists.

Panelists: Amy Neeser (University of California Berkeley); Tony Elam (University of Kentucky); Colby Witherup Wood and Alper Kinaci (Northwestern University); Amy Work and Stephanie Labou (University of California San Diego); Betsy Hillery (Purdue University); Joanne Luciano (University of the Virgin Islands); Brian Haymore (University of Utah); Troy Baer (OSC)

Researcher-Facing Track (second Thursdays)

Thursday, May 14th, 1p ET/ 12p CT/ 11a MT/ 10a PT

Title: Working with Your Team Remotely

Description: Let’s continue the discussion around remote support and how you make it work. This month, we’ll focus on how you work with your team – how have your collaboration objectives with your team shifted given our work-at-home reality? How effective have they been? What would you do differently? And what has surprised you?  Add your comments and questions to the call document in advance of the start of the meeting or anytime throughout the call!

Continue reading “People Network Virtual Meetings in May!”

RCD Capabilities Model Office Hours

Have questions about how to get started with the Research Computing and Data Capabilities Model? Or are you already working with it and just want to discuss the process, or a particular aspect of the assessment tool? Join working group members at one of our upcoming Office Hours to get help, ask your questions, and share your experiences! The next few Office Hours are scheduled for:

Wed April 1511 a.m.-1 p.m. PT / 1-3 p.m. CT / 2-4 p.m. ET
Fri April 178 a.m.-10 a.m PT / 10 a.m.- Noon CT / 11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET
Fri May 111 a.m.-1 p.m. PT / 1-3 p.m. CT / 2-4 p.m. ET
Thu May 78 a.m.-10 a.m PT / 10 a.m.- Noon CT / 11 a.m.-1 p.m. ET

Call Coordinates (Zoom):
Due to the recent trend in ZoomBombing, please contact the WG Chairs for the Zoom call information, and please include your name and affiliation.