Invest in Colibri
The Condominium Model
We invite faculty and research teams to become "investors" in this researcher-led ecosystem through the Condominium Model, securing dedicated, high-priority access to resources while contributing to NMSU’s overall computational strength.
The Condominium Model functions like owning a dedicated research building in a shared campus infrastructure. You own and have priority access to your specific wing, but when you step out, others can temporarily use the space. This system ensures your resources are always available when you need them, while the shared approach maintains the entire building (the cluster) efficiently and affordably for everyone.
Why Invest? Exclusive Benefits for Contributors
The condominium model establishes a tiered access system where your contribution dictates your level of guaranteed service and queue priority. By contributing hardware (compute nodes or storage shelves), you secure exceptional benefits that elevate your team's research capacity:
1. Guaranteed Priority & Compute
- Priority Access: Faculty/PI contributors and their lab members retain guaranteed high-priority queue placement.
- Bursting Capacity: Access idle nodes across the cluster to "burst" beyond your purchased hardware capacity. If your idle nodes are borrowed, incoming jobs can preempt outside workloads.
2. Built-in Storage & Sustainability
- Reserved Archive Space: Each hardware contribution includes 25 TB of archive storage, with options to request additional capacity.
- Long-Term Viability: A portion of contribution charges covers management, warranties, and upgrades so future expansions happen at no extra cost to you.
3. Maximum Leverage, Minimum Effort
- Managed Maintenance: System administration, software environments, and hardware maintenance are fully handled by the HPC team, relieving faculty of admin burden.
- Free Optimization Consulting: Expert staff are available at no charge to help profile and optimize your research software.
4. Critical Grant & Institutional Support
- Institutional Cost-Share: NMSU covers major operational overhead (staffing, power, cooling, network), which PIs can leverage as institutional cost-share on grant proposals.
- Proposal Budgeting: Easily budget modular HPC nodes into NSF, NIH, or DOE proposals to extend research capacity.
Access Tiers at a Glance
| Access Feature | Standard Campus Allocation | Condominium (Investor) Share |
|---|---|---|
| Queue Priority | Standard fair-share scheduling | High-priority dedicated queues |
| Compute Limits | Unlimited allowance | Unlimited prioritized allowance |
| System Bursting | Subject to standard queue wait times | Burst beyond owned capacity into idle nodes |
| Bundled Archive Space | Standard project allocation limits | 25 TB dedicated archive per node share |
| Hardware Admin | Fully managed by HPC team | Fully managed by HPC team |
Discuss Hardware Contributions
To discuss contributing compute nodes, storage shelves, or structuring institutional cost-share for upcoming grant proposals, please reach out to leadership: