Better documentation. Better report generation
NERSC response:
We have updated the
NIM Users Manual since the survey opened. We will
provide a monthly usage report by January 2002. If you have specific requests
or suggestions please send them to consult@nersc.gov.
I would like to have the ability to upload proposals for allocations as a
single file (pdf, postscript). It
would make life much easier for proposers and reviewers.
NERSC response:
This will be considered but no commitment to do this can be made at this time.
I resent NIM insisting on setting cookies, which I normally don't allow
NERSC response:
Cookies are needed for the interface to work. For Netscape 4 under
Edit/Preferences/Advanced, check "Only accept cookies originating from the same
server as the bage being viewed."
[...] Allow for multiple logins so as to display windows side by side
NERSC response:
With Netscae 4 you can bring up the lower NIM "result frame" in a new window
by right clicking your mouse and selecting "Open Frame in New_Window".
If it is possible how much allocation has been used per running job, it will be
great to trace cpu time per
job to benchmark the program or find the errors (for example, if there is
leakage in dynamic array
allocation, and you have very long time running jobs.
NERSC response:
This will not be incorporated
in the near future but will be considered as a possible future (at least a year
away) enhancement.
I would like a more complete NIM interface on the compute platforms, SP and
SV1's, so that I don't
have to go back to a local workstation launch a netscape window and surf to
NIM.
NERSC response:
This is unlikely to happen. The main purpose of getnim
is to provide an interface that scripts can call. It is not intended to
duplicate the web interface.
[...] it would be nice to get a month-by-month usage list; [...]
NERSC response:
This is coming, hopefully by January, 2002.
I have no idea what NIM is (maybe it doesn't apply to PDSF?)
NERSC response:
True - PDSF has not yet been integrated with NIM, but will be. You should be
able to see the status of PDSF login names by June 2002.
HPSS accounts are not always mapped to NIM
Some of my group is not in the system. If you look, there are significant
fractions of people that were
pre-NIM and have not been added to they system retroactively.
NERSC response:
These comments
pertain to HPSS users -- HPSS has not yet been integrated with NIM but will be.
You should be able to see the status of HPSS login names by March 2002, and of
Storage Resource Units (SRUs) by May 2002. Meanwhile see:
About SRUs.
Ability to transfer resources to and from different accounts
NERSC response:
This already exists for account managers. Select Transfer Resources
from the Actions menu.
I may just have not realized how to use it, but I sometimes would like to see
broken down by user and time period time use.
NERSC response:
This already exists. Select Rept: Daily Usage from the Search &
Reports menu.
I would like to have acces to the usage history of my allocation time, as it
was before NIM took place.
NERSC response:
[NERSC comment: this already exists but is currently available only to account
managers. We will make this info available to all users.]
[...] Also, when time is
added or removed from accounts at the end of quarters, NIM does not seem to
provide the repo manager an explicit record of this activity.
NERSC response:
This already exists but is currently available only to account
managers. We will make this info available to all users by December 2001.
could be simpler to get basic info
[...] the two top
windows, especially the top right window is a bit confusing (too many options)
The user manual and the menu choices are not as easy to deal with as a lot of
other documentation and
modern software. The functionality seems quite complete, but it isn't as easy
as it could be to figure out for the first time how to use NIM.
The menu structure is too complex with too much overlap in functionality (i.e.,
to check the time used in
my repository, I can probably find 3-4 different ways of getting there from the
initial NIM page). It would
seem like the menus could be greatly simplified. [...] For those of us in
the Eastern US the update time of NIM information is somewhat of a mystery. It
often seems that when I
arrive in the morning, NIM does not reflect charges due to jobs that ran
overnight. [...]
the visual interface is not very appealing on the Web.
I found NIM very confusing when I first started using it. It took me some time
to learn my way around.
An option giving an overview of the functions and when you would be likely to
need to use them would be
helpful. For example, it took me quite some time to figure out that I needed to
use NIM to request an
account for myself once my allocation was approved.
The interface is not particularly slick. The "My Stuff" pulldown and attached
frame are not particularly
intuitive, but are OK once familiar.
When validating user lists, it's a bit hard to tell whether any changes made
have actually taken effect. It
would be nice to get a message saying, "Ok, your user list is now validated
for next year." or something
of the kind.
The interface for applying for new allocations is just a mess. As is the actual
application form! Why is it so fragmented?
It would be nice to relax the constraint of having at least one
non-alphanumeric character for the NIM
password so that I can Have the same password for NIM and the machine I'm
using (IBM SP).
Hmm. I don't seem to have a .nimpw in my $HOME, as promised. Perhaps this is
something that only shows up after a while.
NERSC response:
.nimpw was only used when NIM first opened in September 2000 (it was a
mechanism to distribute many new passwords at once to all users). It is now
obsolete. To obtain a NIM password, contact the Account Support group at
Support@nersc.gov.
Automatic access with the main loginname and password would be desirable
I always have to login twice, don't know why but it always doesn't work the
first time and does work the second time.
NERSC response:
This problem is being actively investigated. As of November 2002 we do not
know what causes it.
I had difficulty to "login" sometimes, as I get a message "Login Failed".
Upon second attempt , it seems
to work OK. I do wait for "Document done" message , but some how I am still
facing login problems at
first attempt. I had pointed this out to the consultants, and I guess in the
new FY 2002, I should request
them to look into this again, if they have spare time, since the consultants
are really very hard workers and
may be they are hard pressed for time. It is not an issue , and I do not mind
trying twice to "login".
There is a bug in the login; I always have to login twice.
I'm not that familiar with NIM yet, as I was unable to log in the one time I
tried.