Department of Maths and Stats local

Department of Maths and Stats local

Department Research IT Resources

Researchers at the Department of Mathematics and Statistics can access several specialist resources for computing, in addition to the university network of windows-based computers. Do discuss your computing needs with your line manager or supervisor at an early stage to ensure you get the support (and equipment) you need.

University IT support
For all questions about central IT resources, see the IT services pages, which include information about security, accessing help, cloud computing, ordering IT equipment etc. The IT helpdesk allows you to log calls for assistance, notify of errors and order equipment. When you raise a request (for example IT help desk -> I need something -> Server/Cloud/Website -> Server – Access Permissions) it is recommended that you add “FAO Research IT” in the subject line as well as your line manager, in case approval is needed.

Access off-site
For some of the resources here you need to access via a virtual private network – more details here: VPN.

High-Performance Computing resources
You can request access to high-performance computing facilities, namely ISCA, Isambard, Archer or DiRAC.

Maths Clusters
You can request access to several linux clusters (named maths1-maths5) that have the following hardware/software specifications:

  • maths1:
  • maths2:
    • 2 x Intel Xeon Gold 6248R CPU @ 3.00GHz, 24 physical cores (48 logical cores), 384GB RAM
  • maths3:
    • 2 x Intel Xeon Gold 6248R CPU @ 3.00GHz, 24 physical cores (48 logical cores), 768GB RAM
  • maths4:
    • 2 x Intel Xeon Gold 6248R CPU @ 3.00GHz, 24 physical cores (48 logical cores), 384GB RAM
  • maths5:
  • maths6:
  • maths7:

To use one of these machines:

  • Request access via the IT helpdesk for one or more people to the machines
  • These machines can only be accessed via ssh, this can be done from the terminal by default on MacOS or Linux, for Microsoft Windows it is recommended to download Windows Terminal from the Microsoft Store, or PuTTY to use ssh commands.
  • When on campus, maths1-3 should be accessible via eduroam, but if you are working externally, the machines can only be accessed via the VPN.
  • To log in, type the following into a terminal (replace ab123 with your University of Exeter short username): ssh ab123@maths1
  • For Windows login to machines if they wish to display any graphics from servers they will also need to download Xming as well as Putty for forwarding their display, e.g. a concise explanation: https://www.geo.mtu.edu/geoschem/docs/putty_install.html

Research Software Engineering and Research Data Science Group
The University has created a centralised Research Software Engineering (RSE) and Research Data Science (RDS) groups, which together form the Research Software and Analytics Group, to assist our research community with complex and bespoke research software needs. You can contact them to get time written into a grant.

Using Repositories and Coding For Reproducible Research.
People can link their Exeter e-mail to a repository such as Github or Zenodo when creating accounts, and there are workshops available to support training: https://uniexeterrse.github.io/workshop-homepage

Data Backup
Do make sure you have a backup solution in place to prevent loss of data from e.g. power cuts, support is available to provide backup solutions. Do contact IT helpdesk to make sure this is in place if you are not confident this is the case.

Department Research IT Working Group
We have a small group of staff in the department who meet occasionally to advise on strategic directions for Research IT facilities and support. If you have any suggestions or want to know more, please contact Dan Partridge.