The Hyak Supercomputing Research Cluster, operated by UW-IT Research Computing, is a high-performance computing environment supporting a wide range of research disciplines at the University of Washington. Hyak offers both HPC and GPU resource types, fast data transfer via a dedicated Science DMZ network, and expert consultation and support for scientific computing workflows.
This article provides an overview of how access to Hyak resources works under the condo model, as well as details about sponsorship and annual slot fees.
This short video walks you through how to purchase compute resources, how Hyak is structured under the condo model, what slice fees are, and how to get started.
Hyak operates under a condo model, an approach widely used at research universities. In this model faculty, researchers and eligible affiliates purchase dedicated compute resources known as slices. These slices are physically hosted and maintained by the Hyak team which provides the core infrastructure including networking, storage, and technical support.
Owners of Hyak slices receive guaranteed access to resources equivalent to their contributed slices on-demand and shared access to idle resources contributed by other members via the checkpoint partition. This enables access to more compute power when others' resources are not in use, but without guaranteed availability or job runtime assurances.
Slice owners can also provide and manage research/lab group member access to the resources and shared storage associated with their purchases, allowing for collaboration on research computing projects.
Hyak currently offers:
Each slice includes:
In addition to the one-time hardware cost for each slice, there is an annual maintenance cost known as the slot fee. This helps cover infrastructure upkeep and support services. If your lab or department is affiliated with a Hyak sponsor (see list below), your College or Department may fully or partially subsidize these fees. Please check with your IT director or Department Chair for exact annual costs. For individuals or labs not covered by a sponsor, full slot fees apply.
| Slice Type | Slot Count | Max Slot Fee (Tier 1 Sponsored) |
Slot Fee |
| HPC Slice | 1 | $800 | $1,750 |
| L40S GPU Slice | 1.5 | $1,200 | $2,625 |
Current Tier 1 Sponsors:
All slice owners benefit from:
To request current slice pricing or to begin the purchase process, please complete the Hyak Slice Pricing and Purchase Information Request Form.
Interested in seeing if Hyak fits your research computing needs? Please complete the Hyak Demonstration Account Request Form.
For more details about Hyak please visit our Service Catalog.