Should I ask QRIScloud Support or ARDC Nectar Support? Who does what?

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Introduction

The world can be a bit confusing for a QRIScloud user when something goes wrong or you need some help to do something.  Who should you ask?  Who can help you with what?

Who can provide support?

The main groups involved in providing "cloud computing" support are as follow:

  • QRIScloud support - we provide support for QRIScloud infrastructure during normal business hours, and can answer general questions and offer general advice, or direct you to other QCIF staff with deeper expertise.
  • The QCIF eRA team - The team can provide general and specialist advice on how best to use QCIF / QRIScloud facilities to meet your research computing and data storage needs.
  • ARDC Nectar - Nectar runs a  "distributed help desk" to provide "tier 2" support.  (In fact, QRIScloud support staff are involved in operating this service.)
  • Self help - QRIScloud has a range of online User Guides and FAQs covering many aspects of the QRIScompute and QRISdata factilities.  The recommended places to look for self-help are:
  • Your home organization's IT support - The details vary depending on your organization. Your local IT support staff typically won't be familiar with QRIScloud (or Nectar in general), but they can help with local issues.

Who should I ask about what?

The simple answer is to ask QRIScloud support. If we can't help with your problem we can figure out who can.

On the other hand, there are a few things where it is clear that we will need pass you on to a different group for help.  For instance, we may need to direct you to NeCTAR RC support, or to your faculty or institutional IT support desk.  In such cases, it may be quicker for you to contact them directly.

  • Requests for new Nectar resource allocations and changes in existing Nectar project resource allocations should be made through the Nectar Dashboard.
  • Requests to change Nectar project members should be directed to the respective project's manager.
  • Requests to change a Nectar project manager should go to Nectar Support.
  • Problems with your own computer (e.g. installing software, local backup arrangements and so on) should be directed to your local IT support.
  • Problems with network access to QRIScloud services from your own computer are likely to be due to issues with your local networking.  (This particularly applies to USQ at the moment.)  These issues are best handled by your local IT support.
  • Problems with installing software on your own computer are best handled by your local IT support in the first instance.
  • Problems with launching, rebooting, etcetera Nectar instances and volumes hosted in other availability zones ultimately need to be directed to the respective Node operations staff.  The Nectar Support channel is currently the preferred way to contact Node Operations staff in other nodes.

For anything else, including all QRIScloud specific Nectar and collection issues, ask QRIScloud Support.

We can also take questions and provide more general advice on cloud computing, cloud storage and HPC. If we cannot help directly, we can often find someone who can help, or refer you to available resources on the web.

 

 

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