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Research Computing at SFU

Here is on overview of research computing resources available to researchers at SFU.

  • High-Performance Computing (HPC): WestGrid/ComputeCanada
  • Programming Support
    • Installation of Programs on HPC Facilities
    • Optimization of Programs
    • Parallelization
    • Debugging
  • Large Scale Storage (WestGrid)
  • Visualization (IRMACS, WestGrid)
  • Housing of Research Servers in SFU Machineroom

This is not a complete list - contact the Research Computing Group (RCG) within IT services at research-support for more information.

High Performance Computing

Access to large-scale computing resources and large-scale storage facilities to researchers at SFU is provided through WestGrid and ComputeCanada. Access is free to all researchers in Canada.

WestGrid operates high performance computing (HPC), collaboration and visualization infrastructure across western Canada. It encompasses 14 partner institutions across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba - SFU is one of these. All computing resources are shared between the member institutions, i.e., researchers at SFU get access to compute facilities with several thousands of processors (cores) and storage facilities of several PetaBytes (PB). See the WestGrid web site for more details.

WestGrid is also one of seven partner consortia that make up Compute Canada , a national organization that is helping coordinate and promote the expansion and use of high performance computing in Canada.

Software

A large number of software packages is available through WestGrid. See the WestGrid software page for details.

SFU has a campus license for Maple that covers faculty and staff at SFU. Students must purchase their own license.

A wide range of other software packages is available from the ITS software site: