The Lifelines UMCG High Performance Cluster (HPC) is a server environment that runs on Linux. On this environment it is possible to run resource intensive jobs and perform analyses on large (genetic) datasets. The environment provides access to the internet, allowing researchers to synchronize their work (f.e. analyses scripts) with a repository, or easily customize their application environments and analyses pipelines. Because the environment has less inherent safety measures (compared to the Lifelines workspace), researchers have more responsibility over their own data management. Misuse of the data could lead to researcher’s access being withdrawn. The Lifelines UMCG HPC runs on Linux and does therefore not provide a graphical interface to run applications such as SPSS. If researchers require this software they will also have to use a Lifelines workspace.
Lifelines and the University Medical Center Groningen offer a three day course in which you will learn how to work with the HPC and the Lifelines phenotypic and genotypic data. Day two of this course is mandatory and researchers that want to use the HPC need to understand this course material before they can work on the cluster. Because the course is only given several times a year, you can also watch the latest recorded presentations: