To manage its allocations marketplace, the ACCESS Allocations team is expanding and enhancing the eXtensible Resource Allocation Service (XRAS), building on the established foundation developed under XSEDE. Since being deployed for XSEDE in 2014 and transitioning to ACCESS in 2022, XRAS continues to be used by half a dozen organizations as a software-as-a-service tool for managing proposal review and resource allocation processes.
ACCESS videos coming soon! In the meantime, check out the Exploring XRAS video produced by XSEDE.
In addition to ACCESS, XRAS is now provided via service agreements to these clients:
The Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) uses XRAS to manage allocation requests for Frontera, the NSF’s 39-petaflops leadership-class computing system.
The Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC) uses XRAS to manage allocation requests for its Anton 2, a specialized system that simulates the motions of biomolecules.
The National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) uses XRAS to manage allocation requests for the Delta Illinois Allocation as well as systems such as Radiant, Nightingale, and industry systems.
NCAR's Earth Observing Lab uses XRAS to manage requests for the NSF-supported Lower Atmosphere Observing Facilities.
NCAR's Computational and Information Systems Lab uses XRAS to manage allocations on its Cheyenne system for Earth system science researchers.
ACCESS continues to make XRAS available for use by organizations that need to manage their own allocations processes. . For a demonstration or to discuss how XRAS might work in your environment, contact us by submitting a help request at the ACCESS Support site.
XRAS is an ORCID Certified Service Provider.
XRAS lets ORCID member institutions post information about allocated
projects to your researchers’ ORCID profiles via integration with ORCID for Research Resources.
Project metadata includes researcher, resource, and project details.
Through this integration, as the ORCID site notes, "Research resources
... and sponsoring organizations stand to benefit from improved
acknowledgement of resource use and a better understanding of the impact
of the work undertaken by researchers using them. Resource-hosting
organizations can make the reporting process more straightforward and
reliable by embedding identifiers in the application process, and by
creating and sharing connections between users and resources."
To take advantage of this feature, XRAS clients must also be ORCID members. Beyond that, XRAS provides a turnkey solution that can link ORCID IDs, collect ORCID permissions, and post Research Resources entries.
XRAS provides interfaces and components to support the submission, review, and administration of allocation requests. With extensive customization features, a wide variety of policy and procedure requirements can be supported by XRAS. The review component supports multiple review phases, enforces conflicts of interest, and allows allocation panel members to view requests, download documents, and enter their reviews. The administrative system provides panel management, tools for meeting logistics and review assignments, email notification capabilities, award entry and processing functions, and reporting capabilities.
Sites with lightweight allocation procedures can choose not to use the review and panel management features, instead focusing on using XRAS for allocation tracking and basic administration.
To use XRAS, your site needs to meet only minimal technical requirements. Primarily, the resources to be allocated by your site registered in the ACCESS resource catalog XRAS also supports optional integration with your local identity management and authentication system and your local accounting system; XRAS clients also have the option of developing custom submission user interfaces, tailored to their needs and embedded with their organization's web or portal sites.
