What are DAC, MRAC, and LRAC TeraGrid allocations?
All researchers are encouraged to consider using the TeraGrid. For eligibility requirements, see Who is eligible to apply for a TeraGrid allocation?
Types of TeraGrid allocations
The following TeraGrid allocations categories are available:
-
Development grant: The Development Allocations
Committee (DAC) awards 0-30,000 service units (SUs). Requests are
reviewed and awarded continuously throughout the year (i.e., DAC
awards do not have fixed submission deadlines or start dates). These
are small awards that are targeted at new users and those
investigating new architectures. Development grants allow you to
explore TeraGrid resources, develop your code, and produce benchmarks
or other well-founded arguments that will help you write a good
proposal for a production grant (defined below). If you are a new
TeraGrid user, you are encouraged to begin with a DAC proposal.
-
Production grant: Typically users request a
production grant when they know precisely the TeraGrid resources
required for a research or teaching project. Two types of production
grant are available:
-
Medium Resource Allocations Committee (MRAC):
The MRAC awards 0-500,000 SUs. Requests are reviewed and awarded
four times a year. Proposals are generally due in January, April, July,
and October. These are medium-sized awards appropriate for users with
prior experience working on the TeraGrid and mature computational
projects requiring moderate amounts of computing time.
- Large Resource Allocations Committee (LRAC): The LRAC makes awards larger than 500,000 SUs. Requests are reviewed and awarded twice per year. Proposals are generally due in January and July. These are large awards for users with very extensive computational requirements.
A successful production grant proposal (MRAC, LRAC) requires a detailed justification of resource usage.
-
Medium Resource Allocations Committee (MRAC):
The MRAC awards 0-500,000 SUs. Requests are reviewed and awarded
four times a year. Proposals are generally due in January, April, July,
and October. These are medium-sized awards appropriate for users with
prior experience working on the TeraGrid and mature computational
projects requiring moderate amounts of computing time.
For instructions on how to apply for a development grant, see How do I apply for a TeraGrid allocation? For information about applying for a production grant, see About applying for a large TeraGrid allocation (more than 30,000 CPU hours or 5TB of data storage).
This document was developed with support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) under Grant No. 0503697 to the University of Chicago and subcontracted to Indiana University. Additional support was provided by IU through its participation in the TeraGrid, which is supported by the NSF under Grants No. 0833618, SCI451237, SCI535258, and SCI504075. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.
Also see:
Last modified on January 15, 2008.






