Acronyms, terms, and quick lookups used throughout ACCESS documentation.
Acronym Glossary
Common acronyms used in ACCESS documentation and HPC contexts. For a comprehensive site-wide glossary, see the ACCESS support knowledge base.
| Acronym | Full Term |
|---|---|
| ACCESS | Advanced Cyberinfrastructure Coordination Ecosystem: Services & Support |
| CPU | Central Processing Unit — primary compute element |
| GPU | Graphics Processing Unit — used for parallel and ML workloads |
| HPC | High-Performance Computing |
| IAM | Identity and Access Management — ACCESS account and login system |
| MATCH | Matchmaking Expertise and Technology in Cyberinfrastructure for Higher education |
| MPI | Message Passing Interface — standard for parallel computing communication |
| NCSA | National Center for Supercomputing Applications — ACCESS Resource Provider |
| NFS | Network File System — general-purpose networked storage |
| NSF | National Science Foundation |
| OOD | ACCESS OnDemand — browser-based HPC access tool |
| ORCID | Open Researcher and Contributor ID — researcher identification system |
| OSG | Open Science Grid — distributed high-throughput computing infrastructure |
| PFS | Parallel File System — high-speed shared storage on HPC clusters |
| PI | Principal Investigator — the lead researcher on an allocation |
| PSC | Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center — ACCESS Resource Provider |
| RP | Resource Provider — institutions that operate ACCESS-allocated systems |
| SDS | Software Discovery Service — sds.access-ci.org {sds.access-ci.org} |
| SDSC | San Diego Supercomputer Center — ACCESS Resource Provider |
| SGX3 | Science Gateways Community Institute — gateway support organisation |
| SSH | Secure Shell — protocol for remote command-line access |
| SU | Service Unit — the unit of measure for ACCESS allocations |
| TACC | Texas Advanced Computing Center — ACCESS Resource Provider |
| WCAG | Web Content Accessibility Guidelines |
| XDMoD | XD Metrics on Demand — ACCESS usage monitoring tool |
| XSEDE | Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (ACCESS predecessor) |
Common File System Paths
These path conventions are common across ACCESS resources, though exact paths vary by system. Check your resource's documentation for the definitive paths.
| Path / Variable | Description |
|---|---|
| $HOME | Your home directory. Usually small quota (~50 GB). Backed up on most systems. Use for scripts, config files, and small datasets. |
| $SCRATCH | High-performance scratch storage. Large quota but not backed up and may be purged periodically. Use for job I/O. |
| $PROJECT | Shared project space accessible by all allocation members. Available on some resources. |
| /tmp | Node-local temporary storage. Very fast but only exists for the duration of your job. |
Useful URLs
| URL | Purpose |
|---|---|
| access-ci.org | ACCESS main website {access-ci.org} |
| access-ci.org/get-started | Account creation and onboarding {access-ci.org/get-started} |
| accounts.access-ci.org | Maintain your profile {accounts.access-ci.org} |
| allocations.access-ci.org | Allocation requests and management {allocations.access-ci.org} |
| metrics.access-ci.org | XDMoD — usage monitoring {metrics.access-ci.org} |
| sds.access-ci.org | Software Discovery Service {sds.access-ci.org} |
| status.access-ci.org | System status and outage notices {status.access-ci.org} |
| support.access-ci.org | Help desk, MATCH services, and knowledge base {support.access-ci.org} |
| ondemand.access-ci.org | ACCESS OnDemand {ondemand.access-ci.org} |
| access.pegasus.isi.edu | ACCESS Pegasus {access.pegasus.isi.edu} |
| ask.ci | Research computing community Q&A forum {ask.ci} |