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National | Distributed high-throughput computing

OSG / OSPool

The OSG's Open Science Pool runs large numbers of small, independent jobs on spare capacity contributed by institutions across the country.

External High throughputBatchHTCondor Data: Non-sensitive

Is it right for you?

A good fit

  • Many independent jobs (parameter sweeps, Monte Carlo, per-sample pipelines)
  • Jobs that are short, restartable and need modest memory each
  • Researchers comfortable with HTCondor job descriptions

Not a fit

  • Tightly coupled MPI jobs (use the HPCC)
  • Sensitive data
  • Jobs that need large shared file systems or long uninterrupted runs
Not sure? Describe your work in a short consultation request and the team will suggest options. Suggestions are guidance; the service terms decide what is provided.

What it is

OSG supports distributed high-throughput computing (dHTC): splitting work into many independent jobs that run wherever capacity is idle. The Open Science Pool (OSPool) is its shared pool for US-based researchers, made up of spare capacity contributed by institutions across the country.

How to get started

See About the OSPool for how to get an account and an access point. Our guide to submitting jobs to OSG shows the shape of an HTCondor job. If you are unsure whether your work fits dHTC, ask us.

Owner: OSG (the service); Research Computing (UCR guidance) Reviewed: 4 Oct 2026 Governed by: OSG and OSPool policies