Difference between revisions of "Red Cloud"
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'''Note: Regardless which method you choose (Web Interface or Command Line Interface), you must follow the [[#First Time Login | First Time Login]] instructions above.''' | '''Note: Regardless which method you choose (Web Interface or Command Line Interface), you must follow the [[#First Time Login | First Time Login]] instructions above.''' | ||
− | To access running instances, most users will use ssh to access their [[Red Cloud Linux Instances]], and Remote Desktop (RDP) to access their Microsoft [[Red Cloud Windows Instances]]. | + | To access running instances, most users will use ssh to access their [[Red Cloud Linux Instances | Linux instances]], and Remote Desktop (RDP) to access their Microsoft [[Red Cloud Windows Instances | Windows instances]]. |
=== Accounting: Don't Use Up Your Subscription by Accident! === | === Accounting: Don't Use Up Your Subscription by Accident! === | ||
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Here are a couple of motivating examples for you. Let's say you have an exploratory account, with just 165 core hours to start. If you leave a 1-core node running around the clock, you will use up the entire account in a little less than a week. Similarly, let's say you are on a CAC project with a Red Cloud subscription (8,585 core hours). If you start up an instance with 4 cores (sometimes called CPUs in [[OpenStack]]), and you leave the instance running for a week, or 168 hours, you will use up (168 hours)*(4 cores) or 672 core hours, or 8% of the subscription. | Here are a couple of motivating examples for you. Let's say you have an exploratory account, with just 165 core hours to start. If you leave a 1-core node running around the clock, you will use up the entire account in a little less than a week. Similarly, let's say you are on a CAC project with a Red Cloud subscription (8,585 core hours). If you start up an instance with 4 cores (sometimes called CPUs in [[OpenStack]]), and you leave the instance running for a week, or 168 hours, you will use up (168 hours)*(4 cores) or 672 core hours, or 8% of the subscription. | ||
− | All of the above is true for [[Red Cloud Windows Instances]] as well; note that Cornell users do not need to pay for a [[Red Cloud Windows Instances#Windows_Activation|Windows license]] in Red Cloud. | + | All of the above is true for [[Red Cloud Windows Instances | Windows instances]] as well; note that Cornell users do not need to pay for a [[Red Cloud Windows Instances#Windows_Activation|Windows license]] in Red Cloud. |
We recommend you check your balance frequently using pages provided for [https://{{SERVERNAME}}/services/cu/Memberlimits.aspx Cornell] | We recommend you check your balance frequently using pages provided for [https://{{SERVERNAME}}/services/cu/Memberlimits.aspx Cornell] | ||
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== All Users == | == All Users == | ||
− | Please refer to the [[OpenStack]] page for more in-depth guidance on how to use Red Cloud, and read either [[Red Cloud Linux Instances]] or [[Red Cloud Windows Instances]] based on what systems will be used. | + | Please refer to the [[OpenStack]] page for more in-depth guidance on how to use Red Cloud, and read either [[Red Cloud Linux Instances | Linux instances]] or [[Red Cloud Windows Instances | Windows instances]] based on what systems will be used. |
The current [https://www.cac.cornell.edu/RedCloud/status/ Red Cloud System Status] can be checked anytime. | The current [https://www.cac.cornell.edu/RedCloud/status/ Red Cloud System Status] can be checked anytime. |
Revision as of 19:21, 5 December 2018
Warning: This page is currently under construction. Information may not be ready for users.
This wiki provides documentation for Red Cloud, an on-demand research cloud computing service maintained and supported by the CAC. At present, Red Cloud is an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) with some nodes based on Eucalyptus and some based on OpenStack. For more information, see OpenStack Migration
Instructions on these pages apply to users who have a Red Cloud subscription they are managing, though some instructions may also apply to users of subscriptions managed by someone else. Individuals who manage a Red Cloud subscription can create, administer, and delete virtual servers and storage in Red Cloud.
New Users
New users would be best served by reading this complete page first. New users are also strongly encouraged to explore the Getting Started page.
Note for new Linux users: As the root user, you will have complete control over access to the system, such as setting up users and their permissions, defining the firewall, and more. This means that the primary user of a Linux system must be familiar with Linux system administration. Aside from the basics of using the command line, this includes familiarity with: creating and modifying users, installing software, configuring software for remote logins, and managing/transferring data. For users that want to use Red Cloud, but do not have much system administration experience, we've written a Linux Tutorial that should work for RedHat/CentOS and Ubuntu Linux systems. Consulting is also available to answer general questions about systems administration, or for help on specific software and research problems.
First Time Login
When you are added to a CAC project, you will receive an e-mail confirming your Red Cloud access. You must change the automatically generated password immediately for security reasons and to access computing resources. If you are a PI or a PI's proxy for a new project, verify that you have added a subscription to your project; see the Manage Projects Form URL on the How to Start a Project page. After waiting up to 4 hours for account information to propagate, you will then be ready to download the OpenStack credentials and start managing Red Cloud resources.
How to Access Red Cloud Resources
Red Cloud services that you will want to manage are instances, images, and volumes. These services can be managed using the following tools:
- OpenStack Web Interface (Horizon)
- Web Interface - simplifies management!
- Go to the OpenStack Web Interface
- For a walk-through, see the OpenStack page
- OpenStack CLI
- Command Line Interface (CLI) - Linux command-line tools provided by OpenStack.
- OpenStack CLI documentation
- OpenStack Web Interface (Horizon)
Note: Regardless which method you choose (Web Interface or Command Line Interface), you must follow the First Time Login instructions above.
To access running instances, most users will use ssh to access their Linux instances, and Remote Desktop (RDP) to access their Microsoft Windows instances.
Accounting: Don't Use Up Your Subscription by Accident!
To understand how billing works, it is necessary to understand a bit about how Red Cloud operates. Red Cloud enables the user to start, stop, and terminate system virtual machines. Since starting a virtual machine allocates memory and CPU resources on a physical machine to that virtual machine, subscriptions are billed based on the length of time a virtual machine is running, even if it is idle and doing NO work for the user. This is fair because your running instance will prevent others from using the hardware, even if the hardware is idle.
Thus, the best way to avoid using up your subscription needlessly is to make sure you stop your Red Cloud instance any time you are not using it. (It is very simple to do this via the menu in the OpenStack Web Interface.) You can always start the instance again later, and the disk contents will be unchanged. It is just like shutting down your laptop.
Whenever you have one or more instances that are up and running, the amount that is deducted from your Red Cloud subscription is: the length of time that your instances are running, multiplied by the number of cores that you are occupying with those instances. This implies that you should also take advantage of the various instance sizes available. For example, it is usually best to choose a small instance type to do your development work.
It is worth pointing out that Red Cloud allows the instance type to be changed if the virtual machine is stopped (i.e. shut down). This allows you to "scale up" an instance at any time by stopping it, choosing a larger size for it, and starting it back up. You can shrink an instance in the same way.
Here are a couple of motivating examples for you. Let's say you have an exploratory account, with just 165 core hours to start. If you leave a 1-core node running around the clock, you will use up the entire account in a little less than a week. Similarly, let's say you are on a CAC project with a Red Cloud subscription (8,585 core hours). If you start up an instance with 4 cores (sometimes called CPUs in OpenStack), and you leave the instance running for a week, or 168 hours, you will use up (168 hours)*(4 cores) or 672 core hours, or 8% of the subscription.
All of the above is true for Windows instances as well; note that Cornell users do not need to pay for a Windows license in Red Cloud.
We recommend you check your balance frequently using pages provided for Cornell or external users.
All Users
Please refer to the OpenStack page for more in-depth guidance on how to use Red Cloud, and read either Linux instances or Windows instances based on what systems will be used.
The current Red Cloud System Status can be checked anytime.
Common Tasks
Here are some links to help you with particular aspects of using Red Cloud:
- Linux Tutorial - This may help you get up and running with some basic systems administration tasks. It is not intended to be comprehensive.
- Information on choosing Instance type (the size of the virtual machine). Resizing volumes is a separate issue, and is somewhat more involved.
- An example of Installing R, a commonly used software package.
- EZ-backup - a CIT solution for backups. Data stored on Red Cloud is not backed up by default; users are responsible for their own backups.
OpenStack Migration
We are currently in the process of migrating Red Cloud from a Eucalyptus back-end to OpenStack instead. Currently OpenStack subscriptions are available for free to researchers looking to migrate early. Eventually, all cloud instances will be migrated to OpenStack, and we are working on making this process as seamless as possible. For more details on migrating, see the Migrating from Eucalyptus to OpenStack page.