Overview of Questions 

 

 

Answers

Is AdaptiveFlow free to use?

Yes, AdaptiveFlow can be used by anyone without costs. 

 

Can I use AdaptiveFlow as a non-computational scientist?

Yes, but you may need to put some effort into it to learn the required skills, in particular,:

  • Linux/Bash: You should be comfortable with using the Linux command line, in particular Bash. There are many online tutorials available, such as this one.
  • Linux Clusters/Resource managers: You need to be comfortable with using the cluster you want to use, in particular its resource manager (such as SLURM or AWS Batch). Often, the institution that provides/manages the Linux cluster regularly offers free user training sessions for beginners which one can take part in.
  • AWS Cloud: If you use a cloud-based Linux cluster using AWS Batch, you will also need to know about how to use AWS in general.
  • AdaptiveFlow: You need to understand how AdaptiveFlow works, and how to use it.

If you have no experience so far with Linux, the command line, and computer clusters, then it might take one or two weeks to learn these required basic skills and AdaptiveFlow to arrive at a stage where you will be able to use AdaptiveFlow in a productive manner.

If you have experience with Linux and Clusters, then it might only take two or three days to understand AdaptiveFlow sufficiently well and to use it with high efficiency.

 

Is AdaptiveFlow open source?

Yes, AdaptiveFlow is open source, published under the GNU GPL v2.

 


Can I contribute to/join the AdaptiveFlow project?

Yes, we warmly welcome interested researchers to join the project and/or contribute in one of many ways, such as:

  • Improvements of the quality of the current code
  • Improvements or extensions of the documentation
  • Resolution of one of the issues on Github
  • Extension of the code with by adding new features
  • Creation of new versions of AdaptiveFlow for other types of tasks

 

Is AdaptiveFlow difficult to install?

Regarding the AdaptiveFlow package files themselves, the installation is relatively simple. The package files can be installed within minutes by simply unpacking a tar-archive or by cloning the GitHub repo.

In particular, VFVS should be directly ready to use (unless ADFR is used as the docking program, which needs to be installed by the user separately).

VFLP requires additional packages to be installed. And since each cluster and cloud computing platform is different, at times there can be smaller complications with certain aspects, such as the job files which may need to be adjusted. However, computing infrastructures/clusters usually have admins available who can help with unexpected issues, in case some should arise. 

 

What requirements does AdaptiveFlow have?

AdaptiveFlow runs on any computing infrastructure which is managed by a batch system (resource manager). These are Linux mainly computer clusters, as well as cloud computing platforms (since resource manages can run on top of them).

Most academic institutions provide Linux clusters to their members free of charge.

Almost any supercomputer is also just a large Linux cluster. National supercomputing centers often allow applying for computing time without costs.