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Argonne Laboratory Computing Resource Center

Reservation Policy

While the LCRC batch queues are designed to handle the vast majority of work, we recognize that there are special circumstances that require exclusive use of a portion of our resources for a period of time, e.g., to meet an urgent deadline, to carry out certain kinds of benchmarks or conduct workshops. Often we can meet such needs by reserving a specific number of nodes for your project for a specific period of time.

To set up a reservation send an email to [email protected] with the name of the partition/cluster, number of nodes, desired start time, and duration (hours). Based on the load on the partition/cluster at the time of the reservation request, an allocation decision will be made. In case a reservation for the total duration and/or nodes requested by the PI cannot be made, a partial reservation might be granted.

  • Reservations must be requested at least 8 business days in advance and are subject to availability of resources.
  • Reservations cannot be requested more than once per quarter per project.
  • Typically, reservations can be for a maximum of 8,000 node hours (both on Bebop & Improv). Larger evaluation requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
  • Reservations create substantial perturbations to the scheduling of other jobs long before the reservation starts. Once a reservation is scheduled it cannot be rescheduled, and if you end up not needing or using it, the project will still be charged for the reservation time. It is like a non-refundable movie ticket.
  • If a reservation is required to host a workshop with hands-on user participation, please let us know well in advance. This will enable us to plan the reservation window(s) during the work-day(s) to ensure minimal disruption to the user community.