NICS maintains high speed network connections with the TeraGrid network and Internet2. NICS currently maintains the following options for file transfer:
GridFTP
When available, the preferred method for file transfer is GridFTP. TeraGrid resources should have GridFTP installed, and it may be installed at other locations, check for local availability. Before using GridFTP, check out Getting Started with Globus.
SCP/SFTP
The SSH-based SCP and SFTP utilities can be used to transfer files to and from NICS systems. These utilities are usually already installed on Linux/Unix machines, and there are many command and graphical clients available. Due to familiarity and ease, these may be the best choice for transferring scripts and small files, however, these options can be quite slow in comparison, and may be ill suited for transferring large amounts of data. More information on these utilities can be found on the SFTP/SCP page.
BBCP
If GridFTP is not available, the multistreaming transfer utility BaBar copy (BBCP) may be used. The BBCP utility is capable of breaking up your transfer into multiple simultaneously transferring streams, thereby transferring data faster than single-streaming utilities such as SCP and SFTP. Use of BBCP requires the installation of BBCP on both host systems involved in the transfer.
HSI
For data transfers between Kraken, Verne and Athena, Users may stage their data through HPSS. This has the added benefit of also creating a backup copy of the data in the HPSS archive. Access to the HPSS is accomplished through the Hierarchical Storage Interface (HSI) utility. More information can be found on the HSI page. An example of transfer scripts from Kraken to Verne and back via HPSS can be found at Verne data transfer.
