Cluster computing for social scientists with R – CANCELLED

In this course, you will learn the basics of supercomputing. The day starts with an introduction to supercomputer architecture, including a hands-on session focused on running jobs on a supercomputer.

The second half of the programme focuses on translating your R workflow from a GUI (Rstudio) workflow on your desktop to a scripting/batch environment on the supercomputer. Topics covered here include: efficient programming, parallel computing, and using the SLURM job manager to send your job/analysis to the supercomputer.

In this course you will:

• Do practical exercises to learn how to effectively use the Lisa national computing cluster and the national supercomputer, and how to complete your tasks with minimal effort in the shortest possible time.
• Experience how to achieve high performance with R by using SURF’s supercomputing facilities.

Prerequisites:

• Basic knowledge of Linux (Unix shell) is useful
• Basic knowledge of R is useful

You must have:

A personal laptop with an up-to-date browser and a terminal emulator (Putty for users of the OSSC/CBS RA environment). Using the operating systems Linux and macOS is preferred but not mandatory. For Windows users, we recommend downloading MobaXterm (portable version) as a terminal emulator. If you are limited in your choice, Putty also works.

Acknowledgements

This course has been sponsored by the EuroCC project.