Skip to content

Argonne Leadership Computing Facility

Using Globus

Globus addresses the challenges faced by researchers in moving, sharing, and archiving large volumes of data among distributed sites. With Globus, you hand off data movement tasks to a hosted service that manages the entire operation. It monitors performance and errors, retries failed transfers, corrects problems automatically whenever possible, and reports status to keep you informed and keep you focused on your research.

Command line and Web-based interfaces are available. The command line interface, which requires only ssh to be installed on the client, is the method of choice for script-based workflows. Globus also provides a REST-style transfer API for advanced-use cases that require scripting and automation.

Getting Started

Basic documentation for getting started with Globus can be found at the following URL: https://docs.globus.org/how-to/

Data Transfer Node

Several data transfer nodes (DTNs) for /home, Eagle, Grand, and HPSS are available to ALCF users, allowing users to perform wide and local area data transfers. Access to the DTNs is provided via the following Globus endpoints.

ALCF Globus Endpoints

The Globus endpoint and the path to use depends on where your data resides. If your data is on:

  • /home which is where your home directory resides: alcf#dtn_home for accessing /home (i.e. home directories on agile-home filesystem). Use the path /<username\>
  • HPSS: alcf#dtn_hpss
  • Eagle filesystem: alcf#dtn_eagle for accessing /lus/eagle/projects or /eagle (i.e project directories on Eagle filesystem). Use the path /eagle/<project name\>
  • Grand filesystem: alcf#dtn_grand for accessing /lus/grand/projects or /grand (i.e. project directories on Grand filesystem). Use the path /grand/<project name\>

After registering, simply use the appropriate ALCF endpoint, as well as other sources or destinations. Use your ALCF credentials (your OTP generated by the CryptoCARD token with PIN or Mobilepass app) to activate the ALCF endpoint.

Globus Connect Personal allows users to add laptops or desktops as an endpoint to Globus, in just a few steps. After you set up Globus Connect Personal, Globus can be used to transfer files to and from your computer.

References

Research Data Management with Globus (2019)