Supercomputer System HBW TOPUsage Fee of HOKUSAI BW
Japanese
Usage Fee of HOKUSAI BW


# Applications for FY2022 usage fee will be accepted until 3:00 p.m. on March 9, 2023.
# Applications for continuation of to FY2023 will be accepted from March 9, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. to March 22, 2023 at 3:00 p.m.
# BW is scheduled to end operations around the end of November 2023, so the purchases of usage fee will be valid until the end of BW operation.
# If you do not know the budget number yet, please enter the appropriate budget number and name, and send us an email as soon as you know.

Outline of usage fee

A usage fee will be introduced for a part of the HOKUSAI BW usage from October 19th 2020. The usage fee is required for priority execution of BW jobs and use of the data area (/data). Normal job execution and use of the home area (/home) are still available for free.

The usage fee and the services are defined in the Handling of Usage Fees for Information System Services Provided by the RIKEN Information R&D and Strategy Headquarters. Also, once purchased, the usage fee is non-refundable. The BW usage fees will remain at current prices for the duration of BW’s existence.

Budget Transfer Schedule

The payment of user fees will be made through budget transfers. The budget will be transferred according to the following schedule.
For example, if you purchase 30,000 yen worth of usage fees in April, the full amount will be budget transferred in July.

  • Purchased by the end of June (including continuation applications): Budget transfer in July
  • Purchased by the end of September: Budget will be transferred in October
  • Purchased by the end of December: Budget transfer in January
  • Purchased by the middle of February: Budget transfer in February
  • Purchased by the end of the fiscal year: Budget transfer in March

Applications approved by the deadline will be processed. If you need special handling, please contact us by email.

Notes on external funds

For MEXT (excluding KAKENHI, JSPS, and JST), JAXA, NEDO, METI, and MLIT proposals, please contact the External Funds Office to inquire about the availability of payment, payment methods, deadlines at the end of the fiscal year, and other conditions.
[Contact] gaibushikin-toiawase [at] riken.jp
If you are using external funds, please make sure you use up the purchased services.

Usage fee for priority job execution

  • Target of usage fee
    • The usage fee applies to the portion of the core-hour allocated to your project that you wish to prioritize for execution.
    • Running normal jobs is free of charge, as before.
    • Core-hour purchased as priority execution are valid until the end of the fiscal year.
  • Fee
    • 90 JPY for 720 core-hour priority execution (720 hours on 1 core)
    • Example
      • Approximately 1,080 JPY for 1 core with 1 year of priority execution
      • Approximately 43,200 JPY for 1 node (40 cores) for 1 year of priority execution
  • Remarks
    • A new project for priority execution is created for each application, and you can specify the new project number for priority execution.

Usage fee for data area (/data)

  • Target of usage fee
    • The usage fee is only for the data area (/data) of ​​HOKUSAI BW.
    • Use of the home area (/home, 4TB per person) of HOKUSAI BW is free.
  • Fee
    • 180 JPY/month per 1TB
    • This service is available from the month you start using it untill the end of the fiscal year. Use of the service cannot be cancelled in the middle of the fiscal year.
  • Remarks
    • The tape area will be removed from the user service and operated as cold media.

How to apply

Please apply through HOKUSAI BW Service Application for Usage Fees