HPC Centers: PET FAQs

When to Contact the HPC Help Desk	Users should contact the HPC Help Desk when assistance is needed for unclassified problems, issues, or questions.
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Help Desk Video Tutorial	Getting Help: the HPC Help Desk
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Help E-mail	help@helpdesk.hpc.mil
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HPC Help Desk Manager E-mail	manager@helpdesk.hpc.mil
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Mailing Address	DoD HPCMP HPC Help Desk AFRL/RCM 2435 Fifth Street Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH - 45433-7802
Ticket Requests	Active users may submit tickets from the Active User Help Ticket. Inactive users may submit tickets using the Inactive User Help Ticket.

PET FAQs

How Do I Get PET Support?

In the event you need help with anything PET-related, there are several ways to quickly obtain assistance:

Questions regarding potential Mission (MP) or Special (SP) Projects should be sent to PET@hpc.mil
Questions regarding Training should be sent to HPCTraining@hpc.mil

Sponsors with active MP/SPs should contact their Principal Investigator (PI).

For what kind of problems can I get help?

Mission Projects (MPs)
Mission Projects are requested by a Government Sponsor and enable their collaboration with the PET Team's computational experts within the HPCMP. Mission Projects last between 1-12 months and are designed to assist users with solving complex issues in mission-critical areas.

The following range of activities is supported:

Expert advice and assistance in developing, applying, or using algorithms, existing software, or related computational science technology
Short-term cooperative software research and development of computational science applications
Expert advice and assistance in installing and configuring computational software applications, tools, and related data for HPCMP customers in conjunction with DSRC systems team
Support to the HPCMP in software applications planning
Conducting studies to perform software engineering design and analysis as directed

Special Projects (SPs)
Special Projects are used to provide unique HPC expertise for important problems when existing resources and mechanisms are not available. These typically include unique problems for specific sponsors or projects that require close coordination between the application/code developer and HPCMP systems and staff to solve the problem. Special Projects must be relevant to HPCMP projects and address important DoD needs.

Training
PET's Training events use a combination of in-person, virtual, and on-demand classes to educate and provide the HPC community with advanced tools and technologies required to increase the user's knowledge in furtherance of their mission/project. With almost-weekly live/virtual classes and over 200+ on-demand sessions, users can easily search a topic within the Training catalog. In the event a class doesn't already exist, and if the need would justify the effort, a knowledgeable PET Team scientist can develop and deliver a high-quality training class.

Additional information can be found on the HPC Training page or by emailing HPCTraining@hpc.mil.

How much does PET support cost?

MP support and training is funded by the HPCMP at no cost to the HPC user. This support is a valuable and limited resource and must address the priority needs of the HPCMP and DoD.

SP support is sponsor-funded.

Is there a limit to how much PET assistance I can get?

There is no hard limit to the support provided to individual projects or users. To be equitable to everyone, repeated requests for support or extended support requests may need additional justification or review to establish priorities based on DoD needs. Mission Projects are prioritized and selected by the Mission Project Board (MPB) based on criteria including greatest potential impact for DoD within the budget available. Special Projects are considered according to the relevance to HPCMP needs and priorities along with their impact to DoD.

Are there constraints on a MP or SP period of performance?

The PET Team's annual period of performance is 1 July to 30 June. Any work started on a project must be completed and all deliverables and milestones submitted by 30 June. Projects can be initiated at any time, but the scope of the project must be written in a way that ensures compliance with the period of performance. Projects for the upcoming year's period of performance, however, can be written and submitted at any time so that a team can immediately begin working on 1 July at the start of the year. This is especially important to maintaining continuity and momentum with any ongoing projects that, depending on scope, could span multiple years.

Where are PET staff located?

PET Team members are physically seated at the following locations across the United States.

ARL (Army Research Laboratory)
AFRL (Air Force Research Laboratory)
NRL-DC (Naval Research Laboratory)
Navy DSRC (NAVO – Navy Oceanographic Office)
ERDC (Engineer Research and Development Center)

Who are the PET contractors and their partners?

The PET Team is managed by General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) under contract to the High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP). All PET Team staff are full-time, HPC-technical experts with the unique skills required to assist with complex problems requiring the use of supercomputers.

HPC Help Desk

PET FAQs