The supercomputers represent a unique resource for the campus community. These computers have special characteristics that are not found, or are of limited availability, on other central computers, including parallel processing, large memory, and a Linux operating system.  The allocation of High Performance Computing (HPC) resources requires close supervision by those charged with management of these resources.    This section details acceptable use and regulations regarding UArizona's HPC systems.

Controlled Data

UA HPC does not provide support for any type of controlled data. No controlled data (HIPAA, EAR, FERPA, PII, CUI, ITAR, etc.) can be analysed or stored on any HPC storage.

Federal Regulations

By policy, it is prohibited to use any of the facility's resources in any manner that violates the US Export Administration Regulations (EAR) or the International Trafficking in Arms Regulations (ITAR). It is relevant in this regard to be aware that the facility employs analysts who are foreign, nonresident, nationals and who have root-access privileges to all files and data. Specifically, you must agree not to use any software or data on facility systems that are restricted under EAR and/or ITAR.

Arizona Sales Tax Exemption on Research Equipment

Equipment purchased exclusively for research purposes is exempt from Arizona State Sales Tax. See UA FSO statement of Research Equipment Tax Exemption. However, there are exceptions to this exemption that impact central, shared use research facilities. These exceptions include "research in social sciences or psychology"—see AZ ARS 42-5061 subsection B.15.

Machinery or equipment used in research and development. For the purposes of this paragraph, "research and development" means basic and applied research in the sciences and engineering, and designing, developing or testing prototypes, processes or new products, including research and development of computer software that is embedded in or an integral part of the prototype or new product or that is required for machinery or equipment otherwise exempt under this section to function effectively. Research and development do not include manufacturing quality control, routine consumer product testing, market research, sales promotion, sales service, research in social sciences or psychology, computer software research that is not included in the definition of research and development, or other nontechnological activities or technical services. (emphasis added)

In order to provide research computing resources to researchers from these exception areas, some of the research computing resources have been purchased with Arizona taxes included. The result is that there are resources available to all campus researchers, with the caveat that researchers in the social sciences, psychology and instructional projects areas are restricted to using resources that are purchased with taxes paid.

Please contact our HPC consultants to learn about the resources that are available for social sciences, psychology and instructional purposes.

Access for Research and Limited Access for Instruction

As described in the 'Sales Tax Exemption' section above, most of the HPC systems are limited to research applications as defined in Section B-14 of ARS Statute 42-5061 by the Arizona Legislature. All users are expected to use these resources accordingly and to use the U-System or other computing systems for non-research purposes.