Secure Global Desktop for the HPC

The Sun Secure Global Desktop (SGD) is a system that provides a single point of access (usually a webpage) to applications that run on various backend servers. Its purpose is to make the backend platform independent of the client system the user is working on. So for example, a user working on a Windows PC can run a graphical (X Windows) application on a Unix backend server without having anything more installed than a recent web browser (IE or Firefox have been tested), and an up-to-date version of the Java runtime (Java 6).

Secure Global Desktop has been integrated with the HPC as a test to provide interactive job sessions for applications which require graphical user interfaces without the need for helper applications such as eXceed to be installed on the desktop. Currently, only Matlab and R are currently available via SGD. Other applications can be enabled by request.

How to use SGD on the HPC

1) In a web browser, go to the SGD home page at http://sgd.lancs.ac.uk/

2) Select the Log in option, and enter your network Windows account username and password

3) From the left hand tab, select the option Matlab-Unix-HPC or R-Unix-HPC and then enter your HPC username and password

SGD will now automatically log you in to the HPC, start an interactive job session and invoke Matlab or R. Once the session is terminated, the corresponding interactive job session and login will also be terminated.

Please noted that SGD is presently a test system, not a production service, which means that there may be unannounced down time. We do however try to carry out planned maintenance when the system is not being used.

Please send feedback on the test to Mike Pacey.

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