Engineering Compute Cluster – Storage
This page explains where your files live on the cluster, what is and is not backed up, and how to move files on and off the system.
Important: Your Data Is Not Backed Up
Neither home directories nor the shared data volume are backed up. If files are deleted or lost, we cannot restore them. Keep a copy of anything important (code, input files, and final results) somewhere else, such as your department file share or your own computer.
Where Your Files Live
All cluster nodes use the same shared storage, so a file you create on the login node is visible to your jobs on every compute node. The compute nodes have no local scratch disk, so jobs read and write to shared storage.
| Location | Purpose | Cleaned up? |
|---|---|---|
| Home directory ( /home/NETID, stored under /data/home) |
Your scripts, source code, configuration files, and small files you want to keep. | Removed when your account is closed. |
| Scratch ( /data/scratch) |
Temporary working space for large job inputs, intermediate files, and output. | Cleared between semesters. |
Home directories
Your home directory is where you land when you log in. It is stored on the cluster’s shared data volume, and /home points to it, so it is available on all nodes.
Scratch space
Use /data/scratch for temporary files and large working data. Scratch is cleaned between semesters, so copy any results you want to keep off the cluster before the end of each semester.
Space Limits
There are currently no enforced quotas on storage. The shared data volume is used by everyone, so please be considerate:
- Delete temporary and intermediate files when you are done with them.
- Move finished results off the cluster instead of storing them long term.
- Check your usage from time to time with
du -sh ~.
When Your Account Ends
When your account is closed (for example, after you graduate or leave a project), your home directory is removed. Copy anything you need to keep before then.
Transferring Files
You can use scp, sftp, or WinSCP to move files to and from the cluster. The host name is engr-cluster-01.engr.msstate.edu. From off campus, connect to the MSU VPN first.
Command line (macOS, Linux, Windows PowerShell)
Copy a file to the cluster:
scp myfile.txt NETID@engr-cluster-01.engr.msstate.edu:~/Copy a folder to your scratch space:
scp -r myfolder NETID@engr-cluster-01.engr.msstate.edu:/data/scratch/Copy a file from the cluster to your current local folder:
scp NETID@engr-cluster-01.engr.msstate.edu:~/results.txt .Start an interactive file transfer session:
sftp NETID@engr-cluster-01.engr.msstate.eduWinSCP (Windows, graphical)
- Open WinSCP and choose SFTP as the file protocol.
- Enter engr-cluster-01.engr.msstate.edu as the host name and your NetID and engineering password (see Engineering Compute Cluster – Gaining Access).
- Click Login, then drag and drop files between your computer and the cluster.