To replace storage systems that provide user homes in Argon, we will be deploying a storage cluster using the Ceph distributed filesystem. This cluster is designed to improve performance and reduce latency for data access in cluster users' home directories as well as reduce the administrative burden for Research Services staff. Future growth and hardware replacement will be significantly simplified by using a storage cluster.

We expect to receive the hardware in April and then move the system to production at a future HPC maintenance day to be announced. All user data will be migrated to the new system and will be available on the same path in Argon. Users who connect to their Argon homes from outside the HPC cluster may need to alter the path used because they will need to connect to a different system than previously.

Will I need to change the code I run on Argon?
No. The change to the new system will be transparent when accessed within Argon and homes will be mounted on the same path so no changes are expected for user jobs.

Will the amount of space allocated for users change?
No. We don't have any plan to change the amount of storage space allocated to each user for Argon homes.

Questions?
Please contact research-computing@uiowa.edu.