Lab Directory Structure

ICL Common Directories

1. /scratch - This is generally a unique directory on each machine (the only exception is the two Suns, blast and plague (a.k.a code), share their /scratch directory) which anyone can write to. This directory IS NOT backed up and files are automatically deleted if they are not accessed for a certain period of time (currently 2 weeks).

   Use this directory for temporary files that don't really need to be backed up (This is preferred over /tmp since /tmp is generally smaller and is also included in the backups). It's also useful for storing the output from simulations while they're running since these may be large file of which you only want to save a portion. Also since /scratch is a local filesystem, the read/write performance will be higher so simulations will run faster. After everything is finished running, you can copy those files or portions of files you want to more permanent storage.

   NOTE: the files in /scratch on blast/plague haven't been automatically removed up to this time, but don't rely on that! The script to automatically clean the directory will be set up soon, so move any files from /scratch that you want to keep.

   
   

2. /confer - Anyone can write to this directory just like /scratch, but the same directory is visible on all machines and it is backed up.

   The purpose of this directory is for short-term collaborative efforts such as working on a paper, conference slides, etc. It is also useful for an initial location of a project directory until a permanent location is set up.

   This directory is NOT intended for long term storage, so everyone should take responsibility for cleaning up their directories once they are finished with them. There are currently no plans to automatically clean up old files.

   
   

3. /proj/* - These directories are for long term projects. They are visible on all machines and are backed up, but they must be setup by an administator. If you need a new project directory, you can create an initial directory in /confer and send a request to 'help@code' for a permanent project directory.