How does NERC pricing work?

As a new PI using NERC for the first time, am I entitled to any credits?

As a new PI using NERC for the first time, you might wonder if you get any credits. Yes, you'll receive up to $1000 for the first month only. But remember, this credit can not be used in the following months. Also, it does not apply to GPU resource usage.

NERC offers you a pay-as-you-go approach for pricing for our cloud infrastructure offerings (Tiers of Service), including Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) – Red Hat OpenStack and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) – Red Hat OpenShift. The exception is the Storage quotas in NERC Storage Tiers, where the cost is determined by your requested and approved allocation values to reserve storage from the total NESE storage pool. For NERC (OpenStack) Resource Allocations, storage quotas are specified by the "OpenStack Volume Quota (GiB)" and "OpenStack Swift Quota (GiB)" allocation attributes. Whereas for NERC-OCP (OpenShift) Resource Allocations, storage quotas are specified by the "OpenShift Request on Storage Quota (GiB)" and "OpenShift Limit on Ephemeral Storage Quota (GiB)" allocation attributes. If you have common questions or need more information, refer to our Billing FAQs for comprehensive answers. NERC offers a flexible cost model where an institution (with a per-project breakdown) is billed solely for the duration of the specific services required. Access is based on project-approved resource quotas, eliminating runaway usage and charges. There are no obligations of long-term contracts or complicated licensing agreements. Each institution will enter a lightweight MOU with MGHPCC that defines the services and billing model.

Calculations

Service Units (SUs)

Name	vGPU	vCPU	RAM (GiB)	Current Price
H100 GPU	1	64	384	$6.04
A100sxm4 GPU	1	32	240	$2.078
A100 GPU	1	24	74	$1.803
V100 GPU	1	48	192	$1.214
K80 GPU	1	6	28.5	$0.463
CPU	0	1	4	$0.013

Expected Availability of H100 GPUs

H100 GPUs will be available in early 2025.

Breakdown

CPU/GPU SUs

Service Units (SUs) can only be purchased as a whole unit. We will charge for Pods (summed up by Project) and VMs on a per-hour basis for any portion of an hour they are used, and any VM "flavor"/Pod reservation is charged as a multiplier of the base SU for the maximum resource they reserve.

GPU SU Example:

A Project or VM with:

1 A100 GPU, 24 vCPUs, 95MiB RAM, 199.2hrs
Will be charged:

1 A100 GPU SUs x 200hrs (199.2 rounded up) x $1.803

$360.60

OpenStack CPU SU Example:

A Project or VM with:

3 vCPU, 20 GiB RAM, 720hrs (24hr x 30days)
Will be charged:

5 CPU SUs due to the extra RAM (20GiB vs. 12GiB(3 x 4GiB)) x 720hrs x $0.013

$46.80

Are VMs invoiced even when shut down?

Yes, VMs are invoiced as long as they are utilizing resources. In order not to be billed for a VM, you must delete your Instance/VM. It is advisable to create a snapshot of your VM prior to deleting it, ensuring you have a backup of your data and configurations. By proactively managing your VMs and resources, you can optimize your usage and minimize unnecessary costs.

If you have common questions or need more information, refer to our Billing FAQs for comprehensive answers.

OpenShift CPU SU Example:

Project with 3 Pods with:

i. 1 vCPU, 3 GiB RAM, 720hrs (24hr*30days)

ii. 0.1 vCPU, 8 GiB RAM, 720hrs (24hr*30days)

iii. 2 vCPU, 4 GiB RAM, 720hrs (24hr*30days)
Project Will be charged:

RoundUP(Sum(

1 CPU SUs due to first pod * 720hrs * $0.013

2 CPU SUs due to extra RAM (8GiB vs 0.4GiB(0.1*4GiB)) * 720hrs * $0.013

2 CPU SUs due to more CPU (2vCPU vs 1vCPU(4GiB/4)) * 720hrs * $0.013

))

=RoundUP(Sum(720(1+2+2)))*0.013

$46.80

How to calculate cost for all running OpenShift pods?

If you prefer a function for the OpenShift pods here it is:

Project SU HR count = RoundUP(SUM(Pod1 SU hour count + Pod2 SU hr count + ...))

OpenShift Pods are summed up to the project level so that fractions of CPU/RAM that some pods use will not get overcharged. There will be a split between CPU and GPU pods, as GPU pods cannot currently share resources with CPU pods.

Storage

Storage is charged separately at a rate of $0.009 TiB/hr or $9.00E-6 GiB/hr. OpenStack volumes remain provisioned until they are deleted. VM's reserve volumes, and you can also create extra volumes yourself. In OpenShift pods, storage is only provisioned while it is active, and in persistent volumes, storage remains provisioned until it is deleted.

Very Important: Requested/Approved Allocated Storage Quota and Cost

The Storage cost is determined by your requested and approved allocation values. Once approved, these Storage quotas will need to be reserved from the total NESE storage pool for both NERC (OpenStack) and NERC-OCP (OpenShift) resources. For NERC (OpenStack) Resource Allocations, storage quotas are specified by the "OpenStack Volume Quota (GiB)" and "OOpenStack Swift Quota (GiB)" allocation attributes. Whereas for NERC-OCP (OpenShift) Resource Allocations, storage quotas are specified by the "OpenShift Request on Storage Quota (GiB)" and "OpenShift Limit on Ephemeral Storage Quota (GiB)" allocation attributes.

Even if you have deleted all volumes, snapshots, and object storage buckets and objects in your OpenStack and OpenShift projects. It is very essential to adjust the approved values for your NERC (OpenStack) and NERC-OCP (OpenShift) resource allocations to zero (0) otherwise you will still be incurring a charge for the approved storage as explained in Billing FAQs.

Keep in mind that you can easily scale and expand your current resource allocations within your project. Follow this guide on how to use NERC's ColdFront to reduce your Storage quotas for NERC (OpenStack) allocations and this guide for NERC-OCP (OpenShift) allocations.

Storage Example 1:

Volume or VM with:

500GiB for 699.2hrs
Will be charged:

.5 Storage TiB SU (.5 TiB x 700hrs) x $0.009 TiB/hr

$3.15

Storage Example 2:

Volume or VM with:

10TiB for 720hrs (24hr x 30days)
Will be charged:

10 Storage TiB SU (10TiB x 720 hrs) x $0.009 TiB/hr

$64.80

Storage includes all types of storage Object, Block, Ephemeral & Image.

High-Level Function

To provide a more practical way to calculate your usage, here is a function of how the calculation works for OpenShift and OpenStack.

OpenStack = (Resource (vCPU/RAM/vGPU) assigned to VM flavor converted to number of equivalent SUs) * (time VM has been running), rounded up to a whole hour + Extra storage.

NERC's OpenStack Flavor List

You can find the most up-to-date information on the current NERC's OpenStack flavors with corresponding SUs by referring to this page.
OpenShift = (Resource (vCPU/RAM) requested by Pod converted to the number of SU) * (time Pod was running), summed up to project level rounded up to the whole hour.

How to Pay?

To ensure a comprehensive understanding of the billing process and payment options for NERC offerings, we advise PIs/Managers to visit individual pages designated for each institution. These pages provide detailed information specific to each organization's policies and procedures regarding their billing. By exploring these dedicated pages, you can gain insights into the preferred payment methods, invoicing cycles, breakdowns of cost components, and any available discounts or offers. Understanding the institution's unique approach to billing ensures accurate planning, effective financial management, and a transparent relationship with us.

If you have any some common questions or need further information, see our Billing FAQs for comprehensive answers.