HTCondor is a high throughput computing system that can run multiple related tasks simultaneously. Most commonly, this means splitting up a job that runs over N events into M jobs that each run N/M events. However, that is just a simple example of what HTCondor can do.
In the case of MSU's tier3, condor is made up of several interacting systems.
The tier3 has several different storage disks you can make use of to store code, datasets, plots, etc.
The home areas (~ or /home/
The home area is backed up periodically though (just not daily), which means it is the perfect place to store lightweight files like important code and plots. It is still recommended that you use a version control system such as SVN or git to manage and backup your code though, as well as copy plots to your desktop or laptop.
Located at /msu/data are several disks meant for storage of large amounts of information, such as datasets (CxAODs, etc.). These disks automount once called for, so they might not be available until you use a command such as "ls -l /msu/data/
After the disks have been mounted (using the "ls" command as before), you can use the command "df -h" to see how much total space, used space, and available space they have on them (note that the space associated with the users home areas is shared between them). Use this command to find a good disk for you to store your datasets and the like. Note that t he work disks do not come with user areas by default, instead you must make one yourself using the command "mkdir /msu/data/
To use HTCondor, a user minimally needs an executable and to create a condor submit scipt. The process for this can be found here, as well as information on more advanced topics.
-- ForrestPhillips - 14 Sep 2017