---
title: "CARC implements new resource and allocation management system"
description: "The Center for Advanced Research Computing (CARC) is embarking on a transformative journey to boost its research capabilities with the adoption of ColdFront, an open-source resource and allocation management system."
type: News
tags:
  - News
date: "2023"
generated:
  by: "process:scripts/port_legacy_pages.py"
  at: "2026-09-10T00:00:00Z"
sources:
  - id: carc-web
    resource: "https://carc.unm.edu/news--events/News/carc-cold-front.html"
    title: "CARC implements new resource and allocation management system (carc.unm.edu)"
    author: "team:unm-carc"
---

# CARC implements new resource and allocation management system

<p class="carc-byline">By Mariah Rosales · 2023</p>

![](/assets/coldfront-allocations-article-image-w-caption.jpg)

The Center for Advanced Research Computing (CARC) is embarking on a
transformative journey to boost its research capabilities with the adoption of
ColdFront, an open-source resource and allocation management system. This
advanced platform is specifically designed to streamline administrative
processes and facilitate the measurement of scientific impact for
cyberinfrastructure resources. ColdFront serves as a centralized portal for
high-performance computing (HPC) centers, significantly improving resource
access management for numerous users within the university.

ColdFront introduces a range of features that elevate research management and
empower Principal Investigators (PIs) and HPC system administrators. Notably,
its allocation-based system efficiently manages access to critical research
resources, including clusters, cloud resources, servers, storage, and software
licenses. Additionally, ColdFront seamlessly integrates with third-party
systems, enabling automation, access control, and other essential system
provisioning tasks. ColdFront provides PIs and administrators with the ability
to allocate and manage resources with enhanced efficiency, enabling the
university's research efforts to reach their full potential.

With the introduction of ColdFront's self-service portal, PIs now have a
seamless process to request resource allocations tailored to their research
group's specific requirements. This eliminates the need for reliance on system
administrators for basic tasks such as user access management to allocated
resources. PIs can independently oversee these operations, ensuring swift and
efficient resource allocation. Moreover, ColdFront empowers PIs to designate
selected users as "managers," granting them the authority to handle
responsibilities such as requesting and renewing resource allocations, as well
as managing user access. The system's comprehensive monitoring integration
also enables PIs to track resource utilization, storage statistics, and other
computational metrics. ColdFront also simplifies the submission of
comprehensive reports on grants, publications, and other essential data, which
are periodically reviewed by the center director to validate the necessity of
allocated resources.

ColdFront doesn't solely benefit PIs; it also streamlines workflows for HPC
system administrators. The user-friendly suite of tools provided by ColdFront
simplifies resource allocation management. It allows administrators to review
project requests, define expiration dates and review other services such as
storage allowance and associate key attributes to them. This ensures efficient
access control automation and facilitates the seamless integration of job
scheduler account management. By leveraging ColdFront's capabilities,
administrators can optimize resource allocation processes and enhance overall
efficiency.

The integration of ColdFront into CARC’s research ecosystem represents a
significant milestone in advancing the institution's scientific endeavors.
This cutting-edge system fosters seamless communication between PIs and
administrators, reducing dependency and promoting collaboration. ColdFront
addresses the challenges faced by the university in managing research
resources, promising increased productivity and effectiveness.

The adoption of ColdFront by CARC underscores its commitment to foster
groundbreaking research and empower the scientific community. By streamlining
administrative processes and enhancing resource management, ColdFront serves
as a catalyst for progress and innovation. The extensive range of features
provided by this open-source resource and allocation management system
benefits both PIs and administrators, propelling the university’s research
capabilities to unprecedented heights.