Installing software yourself on DICE

This document will always be a work in progress as we try to keep up-to-date with the latest frameworks. If you think we could add any new software or useful tips, please get in touch using the contact form.

Major frameworks covered:

    IBM Storage Scale, perviously Spectrum Scale, formerly GPFS

    IBM Storage Scale, previously called IBM Spectrum Scale, previously called GPFS, is a proprietary parallel filesystem, developed originally for handling large multimedia files on a cluster of networked computers.

    For some years the School maintained a small (~5TB) GPFS scratch filesystem for researchers. However, the free-to-use version could not be used on SL7 at the time (it's no longer possible to obtain driver support) so we discontinued the service.

    If you are interested in using IBM Storage Scale, and you have very deep pockets, then please let us know.

    Course Software

    Teaching Software on DICE

    It is very important that software is installed, tested and distributed as early as possible before the start of teaching, so as to avoid any compatibility problems with DICE. We preserve versions of key software, once finalized, throughout the session (and until after any laboratory examinations) to ensure that students keep a consistent environment.

    Request Tracker

    To keep track of Computing Support requests we use a system called Request Tracker (or "RT"). You can use it to see your requests.

    How to see your requests

    See your computing support requests at this address:

    This will show you everything that's been recorded for each of your requests, including comments and computing staff discussions which aren't usually mailed to you.

    Licensed Software

    Licensed software on DICE

    Some of this software is also available on self-managed machines or at home - see below.

    Virtualisation

    For those buying servers, we strongly recommend you consider virtualisation when provisioning new services. It saves on the proliferation of hardware, so is environmentally friendly. Depending on application our desktops can support a number of virtual hosts without any significant overhead. Each could be running services that traditionally would have been run on dedicated physical hardware. Running a virtual service on your own DICE desktop can also help to get a service going without buying new hardware.

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