Overview · RCC ClusterDocs

RCC ClusterDocs NG

Welcome to RCC guidance for medical professionals, biomedical researchers, research software developers, and technical project staff.

RCC is designed for two access styles:

• advanced command-line/developer access, using SSH, VS Code, and direct Slurm tools — this is how you use RCC today; and
• browser-first research, centered on Files and the planned RCC Analysis Notebook/Workflow experience — not yet released.

Start with RCC Expedition Light, the required first-use path, to set up SSH access on Windows 11 or macOS. If you prefer a guided local course, use RCC Expedition.

The course is designed so that a new user can progress without needing an administrator beside them. Each class has a small practical exercise and a gate that checks readiness without exposing credentials or generating significant cluster load.

RCC in plain language

Think of RCC as a set of project workrooms rather than one large shared disk. For definitions used throughout the documentation, see the RCC terminology reference.

Your primary group records where you belong; it is not how cross-department research data is shared. The project is the access and collaboration boundary. Start with the complete plain-language TL;DR for the important limits and links.

The underlying compute model remains Slurm-backed, but users should not all have to interact with the scheduler directly. The planned (not yet released) user-facing model is:

Files -> RCC Analysis
           |      |
           |      +-> Workflow: repeat / scale / reproduce
           +--------> Notebook: explore / visualize / prototype
        -> Files: durable results

The interactive session machinery previously described as RCC Workbench is now treated as an implementation/advanced execution layer behind Analysis Notebook mode rather than a separate primary research product.

RCC supports statistics, visualization, Python and R data science, machine learning, GPU-accelerated AI, and distributed data processing. These techniques remain part of a reproducible research workflow: computation runs through Slurm, data stays within its project governance, and model evaluation includes validation, uncertainty, bias, and scientific limitations.

Not sure which surface to use? Read RCC services: where should I go?. It also records which newer browser surfaces are documented before release.

Choose your path

Shared foundation

• Need an RCC account? Self-service enrollment is not yet released; RCC support creates accounts on request. The planned flow is in Request and activate an RCC account.
• Need the complete short version first? Read the ClusterDocs NG TL;DR.
• Unsure which RCC surface to use? Start with the RCC service map.
• Planning browser-based analysis? Read RCC Analysis: notebooks and governed workflows.
• Need SSH/VS Code or direct Slurm? Those remain available as advanced/current paths in the reference.
• Use the course overview when you want the complete eighteen-class sequence.
• Working with human biomedical data: complete Class 13 before transfer or analysis.
• Connecting a laboratory instrument or acquisition workstation: see how the lab network and RCC fit together.
• Moving data from an instrument into analysis: complete Class 16.
• Planning retention, Coscine archiving (not yet released), or defensible cleanup: complete Class 17.
• Questions or feedback: meet the RCC team and find the best contact route.