Extended use RGS

RGS allows CAEDM users to access high-powered resources wherever they need them

Typical Z Workstations will log a user off after a certain period of inactivity. Some users may find a need to keep a session logged in for an extended period of time (i.e. rendering a model). The extended use Z Workstation (xRGS) privilege is available for students of the college to use once per semester. These workstations will not force a user to log out for a long period of time as described below. In order to use Extended Z Workstaions, you must enable the Extended Z Workstation privilege on the CAEDM website.

How it works

Extended use Z Workstations will not log a user off until 10 hours of user inactivity. This can mean a user can leave a Z Connect window open and running on a computer for 10 hours without interacting with it, or can disconnect from the session and reconnect to it within 10 hours. These blades are a privilege, and are a very limited resource. If more than 10 hours of processing time are needed, the user must either interact with an open Z Workstation session once every 10 hours, or must re-connect to a disconnected Z Workstation session before 10 hours have passed. The user at this point may once again "disconnect" by closing the Z Connect session. If a lengthy compute time is needed spanning multiple days, the user will need to reconnect to the session occasionally and disconnect to re-set the 10-hour count down to logoff. If much longer sessions are needed, it is suggested to investigate using the resources provided by the BYU Fulton Supercomputing Lab.

Extended use privileges

There are 2 types of extended use privileges: Faculty endorsed, and self-assigned.

Rendering, meshing and other applications can sometimes take hours or days to complete. For these special circumstances, instead of sitting in-front of an RGS session wiggling the mouse, a CAEDM user may request access to "Extended use RGS", to allow up to 10 hours of user idle-time.

Faculty endorsed

To get the Faculty endorsed privilege, a CAEDM user must fill out a form, then get the instructor of the course requiring the Extended Z Workstation privilege to sign it. This form may then be approved by a CAEDM employee, depending on the nature of the request. This membership grants a period of membership determined by the faculty member teaching the course.

Extension Request Form

Self-assigned

Self-assigned membership is available to all CAEDM users one time per semester. This membership is gained by applying through the xRGS page.
Self-assigned privileges cannot be extended. After a self-assigned privilege is created, a Faculty endorsed account may be requested.

Caution

By being granted membership to the Extended-use Z Workstation does not guarantee you access to a blade.
There are a limited number of blades (five), thus these blades should only be used for long term rendering, and calculating.
If the blades are all being used, you will have to use a normal blade.