Good Neighbor Use Policy

"Good Neighbor" Use Policy 
The Center for Advanced Research Computing 
University of New Mexico  

The following guidelines for the appropriate use of CARC computing facilities are to be followed by all users. These guidelines are meant to ensure the security of user accounts as well as equitable access to our computing facilities for all users. 

FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THESE RULES WILL RESULT IN REMOVAL OF YOUR ACCOUNTS AND OR PROJECTS, AND POSSIBLE DISCIPLINARY OR LEGAL ACTION.

Acceptable Use 

By accepting an CARC account, I agree that: 

  • I agree my CARC account is for my sole use and will not be shared with others, including supervising faculty. CARC ensures equitable access to computational resources using account limits. Sharing accounts prevents us from allocating resources fairly. I understand that users who we find sharing accounts will have their accounts locked. CARC can help solve the problems that often lead people to want to share accounts, just ask! 
  • I will be responsible for all use of this computer account. 
  • I will use the computer account for Research Computing purposes and not for commercial purposes. 
  • I will not use the computer account to engage in any form of illegal software copying or other copyright infringement. 
  • I will not attempt to access accounts, files or information belonging to other users without their knowledge and consent. 
  • I understand the monitoring of user activity on the CARC machines may occur by CARC personnel. 
  • HIPAA, PHI, PCI, and FERPA data may not be stored on or transferred via CARC systems. 
  • The U.S. Government controls the export of sensitive equipment, software, and technology to promote U.S. national security interests and foreign policy objectives. All requests for installation of export-controlled software on CARC systems require prior written approval or a written exception from UNM Export Control. 
  • I will not store individually identifiable health information on CARC systems. I will follow de-identification procedures in accordance with U.S. Government Department of Health and Human Services regulations when working with health data. Individually identifiable health information is information, including demographic data, that relates to any of the following: 
  • the individual's past, present or future physical or mental health or condition 
  • the provision of health care to the individual 
  • the past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to the individual 

and that identifies the individual or for which there is a reasonable basis to believe it can be used to identify the individual. 

Job monitoring

  • Users are expected to monitor their compute jobs to ensure that they are making progress and are not stuck in a static state.
  • Make sure the resources requested are suitable for the software you are running. Do not leave hardware idle. 
  • Use the "seff" command after your job completes to check whether the resources you requested were used effectively. CARC personnel are available to assist you with monitoring your jobs via Office Hours or help@carc.unm.edu. 

 

Security Considerations 

  • No passwords, for CARC or any other machines, whether inside or outside the University, are to be stored in unencrypted form on CARC file systems. Violation of this condition may lead to immediate and permanent expulsion from CARC systems. 
  • For your own protection and that of the CARC community, we enforce minimum complexity checks on password to filter out passwords that are easily guessed by attackers.
  • Only secure connection protocols (e.g. ssh, ssl) should be used to connect to CARC machines and systems.  

Use of servers 

CARC provides High Performance Compute access. We do not provide enterprise services such as website or email hosting. Please reach out to UNM IT to find out how to set up those services. 

Acknowledging CARC 

CARC’s mission is to support UNM research. An important metric we use to demonstrate your usefulness is by tracking publications. 

Publications, dissertations, theses, poster presentations, and talks should acknowledge CARC.

Please include publications that used CARC resources in your ColdFront publication list.