AI cluster
TCSC AI Cluster (AIC) is a platform where you can develop and offer continuous services for other users also to internet. It is a part of Tampere Center for Scientific Computing - TCSC which is a research infrastructure of Tampere university. AIC runs in our own data centre. AIC has GPU capacity and thus it is especially well suited for testing and running AI models. AIC runs only Linux software containers in OpenShift container platform. AIC is very similar to the Rahti service at CSC. AIC serves all researchers of Tampere University Community.
Please notice that AIC is in pilot testing phase. Testing is possible but some functionality and documentation is still under development. Study the user documentation regularly.
User Right
Depending on your situation, start acquiring the user right according to these instructions:
If you are a member of a research group:
- Please request the Principal Investigator of your research group to acquire a user right and to grant that user right to you. Instructions for all that are on this page.
If you are not yet a member of any research group:
- Discuss with your supervisor(s) and colleagues to consider if also some of your colleagues could later start using the AI Cluster. Namely, it is beneficial to create an informal research group because a research group will have similar access to the OpenShift projects linked to the user right enabling co-development.
- If this kind of collaboration possibility sounds useful, please select the coordinator for the group who should then start following the instructions on this page as the "Principal Investigator" for your informal research group.
- If the two steps above do not work and you cannot form an informal research group, request an individual user right from IT Helpdesk. You will not get access to the OpenShift projects of any research group.
If you are a student and you want a user right for thesis or similar work:
- Request your supervisor to make a resource agreement for you. Instructions for all that are on this page. Without it, you cannot get the user right to AI Cluster.
- If your supervisor or any Principal Investigator cannot grant you the user right of any existing research group, you will have to request your supervisor to start acting as a Principal Investigator according to the instructions on this page. Thus, she will have to request a new user right for a new informal research group and then grant that user right to you and other users.
If you are a Principal Investigator: You will be responsible to manage the user rights for the members of your research group.
- Acquire the user right for your group via the service channel "User right to the AI Cluster" in the section IT-Services.
- When you have received the information that the user right has been created, grant the user right to each member of your research team according to the instructions at Instructions for owners of user rights.
- You will need to grant the user right to yourself, too.
- If you want to grant the user right to a student, you need to make first a resource agreement with her. A basic resource agreement without extra privileges is sufficient, instructions are at Resource agreement (non-employees).
- Due to licensing terms of the software installed in AI Cluster, the user right should be granted only to the following kinds of users. If you would like to grant the user right to someone else, please contact first IT Helpdesk.
- Members of staff or students at Tampere University or Tampere University of Applied Sciences.
- Researchers from other research institutes if they use the user right only for research managed by Tampere University or Tampere University of Applied Sciences and they have a resource agreement.
User account
When you have been granted a user right, you will get a user account to the AI Cluster, and you will get access to the OpenShift projects linked to the user right.
General information about user rights is available at Account and identity management id.tuni.fi.
User instructions
The user instructions are in TUNI Wiki page AI cluster user documentation. You will get access to those user instructions (TCSC space in TUNI Wiki) when you get the user account to the cluster. Please note: Updating wiki access rights takes approximately two hours after user rights for thw AI Cluster has been granted. You have to login to TUNI wiki to access user documentation. Click the Microsoft button that appears on the sign-in page, after which you will be redirected to the familiar Microsoft sign-in page. Use your tuni email address to sign in.
Access
Access the AI Cluster’s Web UI at https://aic.tuni.fi.
The access will work via TUNI VPN or eduVPN.
IT Helpdesk
0294 520 500
it-helpdesk [at] tuni.fi (it-helpdesk[at]tuni[dot]fi)
helpdesk.tuni.fi