What are the software service levels?
Software is classified according to two service levels:
- Primary Support
- Secondary Support
Primary Support
These are the major software packages supported by the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute. In the case of application software, a Primary Support software is one that is widely utilized by MSI users. MSI may have experts on staff who can provide advanced assistance in using these software packages, though this is not true of all Primary Support software.
Examples of Primary Support software are flagship scientific HPC codes such as Gaussian and NAMD, system tools like the Intel Compiler suite, programming languages such as Fortran and Python, and libraries like OpenMP and MPI.
For Primary Support software, MSI commits to:
- Provide assistance with using the software, depending on available staff expertise
- Document the software on the MSI webpage
- Update the software on a regular basis
Secondary Support
The remaining software packages that do not fall under the category of Primary Support are classified as Secondary Support packages. These software packages are utilities and applications that we make available because they are useful to at least several MSI research groups. In some cases Secondary Support softwares may not be mature applications, and our ability to respond to questions may be limited.
Packages in the Secondary Support category that are no longer used may be removed from the system following the procedure outlined on this page, while mature packages that see heavy use may be eligible for promotion to the Primary Support Category.