From July 2024 onwards, you’ll self request and self manage all your data resources via the Research Computing Portal. Here’s everything you need to know about switching over to RCP.
Bookmark the Portal
We recommend bookmarking the Research Computing Portal’s URL: https://rcp.research.unimelb.edu.au/home/
Link not working? Make sure you’re connected to the University VPN if you’re off campus.
Metadata change guide
We have migrated your existing data collections into RCP, but some of the metadata may be missing, incorrect or out-of date, especially for very old data collections where we have had to try to populate details on your behalf for some fields that didn’t exist back when you first made the collection.
Please check and correct your metadata:
Go to RCP: visit https://rcp.research.unimelb.edu.au/home/ (Link won’t work? Make sure you’re connected to the University VPN if you’re off campus)
Locate your collection: go to your ‘Home’ page in RCP, and locate any new Activities that have recently appeared and are named after your data collections.
Check the listed metadata: for each Activity, press ‘Manage Activity’, and review all the published details, especially the ones in the ‘Storage Details’ section.
If you need to correct any details, add any missing ones: press ‘Edit’ on the table that you want to update, correct/add the details in the resultant form, press ‘Submit’.
Here’s a quick video walk though of the process:
http://api.ap.kaltura.com/tiny/7nzw2
Mini tutorials about RCP self service
How to request data resources
Key concepts to be aware of:
Data resources are classified as ‘Activity Resources’ in RCP, meaning that we assign them to given research activities you’re undertaking, rather than to you as an individual.
Consequently, you request data resources by adding them to given Activities on your dashboard. If you don’t have any Activities yet, then you have to create one in order to access data resources.
Once you have an Activity, and have added the resources you want to it, you will finally need to request an allocation for each resource (a specific storage with a unique path name and quota).
The essential steps are:
Go to the Home page (this is effectively your personal dashboard in RCP).
Click Create Activity (or skip to step 4 if you want to use an existing Activity you’ve already got on your dashboard).
Fill out the resultant form and press Submit. (Note that some Activities may require approval and you will not be able to proceed with the next steps while that approval is pending).
Locate the Activity on your dashboard and click its Add Resource button.
In the resultant pop-out window, click Add Resource on the particular resource you want to request.
Click Provide requirements in the resultant pop-out window.
Fill out the resultant form and press Submit.
Locate the newly added resource in your Activity and click Request an Allocation.
Fill out the required fields in the resultant pop-out window, and click Request.
When will I be able to access the storage?
You’ll be able to access your storage as soon as your allocation is provisioned (this can take up to 48 hours).
Who else will be able to access it?
If you have any other users already associated with the Activity to which the allocation belongs, specifically with ‘Manage Resources’ privileges, they too will get automatic access to the storage when you do. To manage access to the storage, go to the allocation’s respective ‘Manage’ page and use the ‘Add/Remove Users’ function there (that is, manage it at the granular level of the allocation’s users, not at the universal level of the Activity’s users).
How to change quotas
The essential steps are:
Go to the Home page (this is effectively your personal dashboard in RCP).
Locate the particular allocation whose storage quota you’d like to change, and press its Manage button.
Click on Edit Quota in the resultant screen.
Adjust your quota in the Quota (GB) field of the resultant pop-out window.
Click the Edit Quota button.
Note: While some quota changes are automatically approved, others may require manual approval by RCS which can take up to 48 hrs. You can keep an eye on the request status via the status table in the ‘Edit Quota’ section of the resource’s ‘Manage’ page.
How to look up and download usage stats
The essential steps are:
Go to the Manage page for the resource you’re querying.
Scroll to the bottom where there will be a usage graph displayed.
To get a spreadsheet export of the usage data, click the Download Usage Data button.
Navigating around the Portal, getting the most out of your dashboard
Here’s a video walkthrough of the RCP interface and its range of dashboard features:
http://api.ap.kaltura.com/tiny/dt7pa
Terminology change guide
In the old regime, you had Collections (datasets relating to given research projects) to which you attached Products (research computing offerings, such as Mediaflux), and within those products you had distinct Projects (specific storage allocations with unique path names and quota sizes).
In the RCP interface, these same concepts abide albeit with different terminology: you create an Activity (essentially a specific research activity/project that you need resources for) to which you add Resources (Mediaflux, DaRIS etc), and then you request Allocations for those resources (specific storage allocations with unique path names and quota sizes).
Role types will also operate slightly differently:
OLD ROLE NAME | OLD CAPABILITIES | HOW TO EFFECT THIS ROLE/THESE CAPABILITIES IN RCP |
|---|---|---|
RCAO (Research Computing Activity Owner) |
| Be the RCAO of the relevant Activity in RCP |
Technical contact |
| There’s no concept of ‘Technical Contacts’ or ' Graduate Research Students' as special roles in RCP, everyone is just an RCP ‘user’. But to effect these old roles and their capabilities in RCP, just get the RCAO of the relevant Activity to:
|
Graduate Research Student |