Attach a cryosparc project in 'read-only' mode

Data Management
1

If a project is detached, it is possible to preview the results. However, one cannot download the underlying assets (maps, for example). It would be useful to enable a ‘readonly’ attachment, where the job is fully viewable, and assets downloadable, but no writing to the project directory is allowed (by the user or by cryosparc). I detach my projects and archive the underlying volumes into a readonly archive.

2

Related to this request, I wonder if it would be possible to have a “cryosparc project viewer” that would enable users to inspect projects in read-only mode? If this could be installed on any basic workstation, i.e. without the usual hardware requirements for a cryosparc instance, that would be fantastic. Also if this could be done without the need to detach projects from the processing instance, that would be even better. We are now using CS via Open OnDemand on an HPC cluster and sometimes it takes several minutes to launch a session, which can be frustrating if you just want to take a quick look at some output. Thanks for your consideration.

3

Thanks for your post @lawsond. Please can you describe (possibly via links to your facility’s documentation):

  1. how a user would access CryoSPARC on your cluster
  2. what resources are reserved for a user’s CryoSPARC session
  3. how a user’s CryoSPARC outputs are persisted between sessions
  4. whether CryoSPARC instances within your Open OnDemand offering are shared or dedicated to individual users
4

Hi @wtempel
Sorry for the slow response, your email went into a folder that I don’t look at every day! I’m a bit hazy on the details as I didn’t set up CS on the cluster (and it’s a bit beyond my expertise anyway), but hopefully the following answers most of your questions:
Open OnDemand (OoD) provides a desktop where I can launch CS through a browser (I use Firefox), and each user needs their own CS license key. First, you follow a link to OoD through your workstation browser and are presented with a page where you request compute resources and the amount of time you need them for. You then launch the session and it may take several minutes to start (usually longer waits when you request more resources). The interface then provides you with login details, URL and password change each time. Once the session starts, a Desktop opens within your workstation browser where you can start Firefox and enter the CS login details. From here the experience is quite similar to that on a standalone workstation. All the data, both raw and processing output, are stored on networked Isilon storage, all of which can be accessed directly from user workstations without the need to run OOD. So I can easily display a map in chimeraX, for example, without the need to copy it to another location. When you start a new OOD session you can access all your previous work too. I’m not sure about your question 4, but given that everyone will need their own license key, I guess that means we all have our own CS instance, but I could be wrong. At this stage OOD access to CS has not been rolled out to everyone (we are still testing it), so I’m not sure if sharing projects is an option as I haven’t had the opportunity to try that yet.
Many thanks!
Dave

5

Hi @wtempel
Just checking if you saw my (belated) reply.

Dave

6

Thanks @lawsond. We took note of your reply!

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