MSI Users Bulletin – June 2025

1. Primary Storage Migration Project: As announced in April, MSI has begun migrating research projects’ storage from our current vendor, VDURA/Panasas, to our new primary storage vendor, VAST. These migrations will take place on maintenance days, which are on the first Wednesday of each month. A small number of projects were migrated on the June maintenance day, and we expect an increasing number of groups will be migrated on subsequent maintenance days until all are completed. Groups will be notified directly a few weeks prior to their scheduled migration.

Please read and carefully review the project migration webpage. The webpage, which will be updated regularly, includes advice and questions to answer ahead of your scheduled migration and provides a guide for actions to take after the migration happens. Some changes to the way you write scripts can be done beforehand. Nearly all projects will need to take actions of some kind to reset your environment, and to be able to run jobs on the cluster after migration. 

You will have three months after your project's migration to check to make sure all your data has been moved. The exact date for your case will be specified in your notification email.

2. MSI on LinkedIn: MSI now has a LinkedIn page! Follow us for updates about research being done using MSI resources, events, and resources.

MSI’s parent organization, Research Computing, is also on LinkedIn, as are other RC units:

• Research Computing
• Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Hub
• International Institute for Biosensing
• U-Spatial 

3. Personnel Changes at RC/MSI: Jim Ferguson, Director of Outreach and Training and head of MSI’s User Gateway Group, retired early this month. Jim had been with MSI and RC since December 2020 and led numerous changes and improvements to our training and outreach activities. We wish him all the best in retirement.

We are happy to announce that MSI’s new Director of Outreach and Training is Laura Fingerson. MSI also has a new employee at the Help Desk - Ian Anderson started in late April and is working with Jaime Vega to solve any problems our users have with the MSI systems. Welcome, Laura and Ian!

4. Publicizing User Research: MSI features research by our users on the website. If you have a recent publication or ongoing research using MSI that you'd like us to feature, please contact Tracey Majoros ([email protected]). She will work with you to write the story. The most recent Research Spotlights are on the MSI website homepage, and the complete list is on the MSI Research Spotlights page. We will also share the stories on the MSI LinkedIn page.

5. Summer Tutorials and Workshops: Summer tutorials are being held by MSI and GEMS Learning. Besides the links below, a consolidated list of courses that will help you hone your research computing skills can be found at the Research Tools and Computing Workshops portal site. 

a. MSI Tutorials: MSI’s tutorials are intended to help users achieve the best results using MSI systems. Summer 2025 tutorials are hybrid, with both in-person and online (Zoom) participation. All tutorials are held in room 575 Walter Library. Descriptions and registration links can be found using the MSI Tutorials page. 

Past tutorials can be viewed on the MSI YouTube channel. 

b. GEMS Learning: GEMS Learning provides modular, non-credit digital and data-science training for working professionals and students interested in hands-on food, agriculture, and natural resource applications. These courses give students practical knowledge to tackle data-science challenges across the agri-food sciences. Several self-paced online courses are available during the summer - see the GEMS Learning webpage for course details and registration information. 

c. Data Management Workshop: LATIS and the Libraries have an online asynchronous course available, Managing Data When You Graduate, that will help graduate students navigate questions about whether they can take their data and materials with them when they leave the university, and if so, how to do it. See the Research Tools and Computing Workshops site for information and registration. 

6. Research Computing Events:

a. Research Computing Collaboration and Coffee: The next Research Computing Collaboration and Coffee events will be held on Wednesday, July 16, 2025 and Wednesday, August 13, 2025 at 2:30 – 3:30 p.m., in 401 Walter Library. MSI users are welcome to join staff members for informal discussions. You should bring your own beverage and/or snack. If you’re so moved, you’re welcome to bring a treat to share.

b. DSAI Events: Events sponsored by the Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Hub can be found on their website: DSAI Events.  

c. IIB Events: Events sponsored by the International Institute of Biosensing, including the Precision Sensing Lecture Series, can be found on their website: IIB Events. 

7. MSI Operations: MSI staff work under a hybrid model; not all staff work on-site full time. All MSI systems can be accessed remotely. 

The Help Desk, located at 587 Walter Library on the East Bank campus, provides assistance to users for all issues related to using MSI resources. The Help Desk is staffed Monday through Friday:

• 9 a.m. - 12 p.m.
• 1 - 4 p.m.

Follow the contact instructions found on the Help desk webpage. 

8. Useful Webpages: Looking for help with using MSI or other RC resources? One of these pages may have the information you need:

• Our Services
• Our Resources
• Getting Started at MSI (includes Quickstart Guides)
• MSI Systems Status
• Software at MSI
• MSI Help
• Tutorials
• Knowledge Base
• Staff Listing and Areas of Expertise
• Proposal Support
• Upcoming Events
• Research Computing website
• Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Hub website
• International Institute for Biosensing website
• U-Spatial website