Server Guide#

As a user of MBO servers you will be given a login and a password to a Windows Server 2022 desktop.

This login will give you access to all of the resources of that server, shared with a limited number of other users.

Connecting with RDP#

Unlike a personal desktop, MBO servers will not be accessible from any computer on the Rockefeller network.

Access to MBO severs are is via Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).

There are a few common applications, depending on your operating system:

via Windows App#

You will need the following information to access the servers:

  • Server IP address

  • Username

  • Password

This example will use the Microsoft Remote Desktop Application, available on the Microsoft Store.

../_images/microsoft_rdp.png

To add an MBO User Account:

  • Add (+) -> PC

  • Enter IP address (129.85.X.XX) in PC name

  • Enter Username in User account

  • Enter Password in Password

  • Choose an optional display name

Important

If initial login fails, you may need to prepend ROCKEFELLERNT\<username>.

You should now be able to connect to the MBO servers!

../_images/rdp_add_account.png

Logging out#

Warning

If you don’t properly sign-out, you will use more login-sessions than you are afforded and your account will need to be logged out forcefully.

To make sure you don’t use more login-sessions than you are afforded, save your work and sign-out immediately after your session:

../_images/rdp_sign_out.png

Filesystem#

Warning

Both workstation and compute file-systems are NOT backed up.

Users should have their own copies of all data on MBO servers.

The D: drive is read-only and contains:

  • D:/W1_SOFT/repos : Data processing software

  • D:/W1_SOFT/apps : Applications

  • D:/W!_DATA/username : Raw data that users will frequenly access will be saved here.

The E: drive is the user sandbox, with a directory E:/W1_USER_DATA/username for each user.

This is where your intermediate results should go.

Internet Access

Users should not browse the internet on the compute server, browsing should be done on your local machine only. A browser is available for Jupyter notebooks, but internet access is discouraged.

Software#

Python#

Python is distributed for each user using uv and miniforge3.

A default Python 3.10 is added to the system PATH and available by default.

You can install additional versions on a per-environment basis:

# uv is available to all users
uv python install 3.11
uv python install 3.12

# or in a conda environment
conda install -c conda-forge python=3.11

conda (miniforge3)#

Each user account has its own Miniforge3 flavored conda installation at C:/Users/miniforge3.

This is your environment to install and reinstall as you please.

Warning

DO NOT install any software in the base environment as that will cause conflicts between all installed environments and require a reinstallation of miniforge3.

The recommended method for interacting with conda is the miniforge_prompt.

../_images/miniforge_prompt.png

Other Software#

  • Fiji / imageJ

  • Visual Studio Code

  • Visual Studio

  • git bash

  • wezterm

  • OBS Studio

Contact a server administrator to inquire about adding additional software.

Connecting to Network Servers#

Other computers on the rockefeller network are hidden from view in the file-explorer, but still accessable:

../_images/rdp_access_other_server.png

You will be prompted for username/password credentials the first time you connect.

If you access this location often, you can map it to a drive letter:

../_images/rdp_map_drive.png

From This PC:

  1. Map Network Drive (top file ribbon)

  2. Click “Next”

  3. Choose a custom network location

  4. Enter share location \\server\folder_name

  5. Give drive a name

  6. Click “Finish”

You now have access to this network location to transfer data to/from MBO servers.

../_images/rdp_map_drive_res.png

SSH Connections#

TLDR

Generate a new ssh key:

ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -C "your_email@example.com"

Send the .pub output to an MBO administrator.

ssh is a communication protocol that will allow you to access MBO servers from the command line.
You may want ssh access to install personal software, transfer files, or navigate the Windows filesystem.

To establish a connection, the computer you are connecting from (the ‘client’) must have a private ssh key.

This guide provides an example of generating this key to authenticate github.com, but the process is the same.

This process will generate 2 files:

Private key

  • ed25519

  • Never share this

  • Stored in your .ssh/ folder

Public key

  • ed25519.pub

  • This is what you send to MBO

  • Can be safely shared

Depending on the algorithm you choose, the filename may be different.
What matters is that the .pub file (e.g. ed25519.pub) is installed on the MBO servers.

All you need to do is send that file to an MBO admin.

Server Hardware#

RBO-W1 Hardware Summary#

Component

Specification

Memory

1536 GB total (1509.75 GB available)

Processors

2× Intel64 Family 6 Model 143 Stepping 8 (32 cores / 64 threads each)

GPUs

2× NVIDIA RTX A5000 NVLINK

Disks

6× NVMe SSDs (2× Micron 7450 @ 3.58 TB, 4× Samsung MZ7L37T6HBLA @ 7.15 TB)

Disk Interface

NVMe PCIe