UPF groups and associated institutions
Internal rates apply to UPF research groups and institutions associated with UPF.
- UPF research groups
- PRBB institutions / UPF-associated institutions
- Internal SCC rates
Rates
Scientific Computing Core Facility
Rates & Billing
Transparent rates for compute, GPU, storage, backup, hosting and technical support.
SCC services are billed according to the type of user group, the services consumed and the selected payment model. Project owners can monitor current and historical usage to understand how monthly costs evolve.
Understand what is charged, how it is calculated and how your project can monitor usage over time.
Which rate applies?
The applicable rate depends on the institution or access pathway of the research group.
External institutions
External rates apply to institutions outside the UPF group.
- Institutions not associated with UPF
- Eligibility assessment may be required before access
- External SCC rates
RES users
Users coming through the Spanish Supercomputing Network follow the RES/BSC access process. These users are not billed through the standard SCC group rates.
- Access through RES/BSC
- Costs covered by the service
- Not billed through standard SCC rates
How billing works
Monthly billing
Monthly billing is based on the services consumed during the billing period and the applicable internal or external rate. Monthly consumption is computed on the first day of the following month.
Prepaid packs
Prepaid packs can be purchased in advance when expected usage is known beforehand. Consumption is then deducted from the purchased package.
Alternative arrangements
If special needs arise, alternative payment options can be discussed with service management and must be approved by the corresponding department.
How usage is calculated
Usage units connect each service to actual resource consumption, so costs can be checked and compared over time.
CPU and GPU computing units
For CPU and GPU jobs, usage is based on the larger value between requested cores and requested memory normalized to 8 GB units, multiplied by runtime.
In practice, the job is charged according to whichever request is larger: cores or memory blocks of 8 GB.
- A job requesting 4 cores and 32 GB RAM counts as 4 units per hour.
- A job requesting 4 cores and 64 GB RAM counts as 8 units per hour.
Kubernetes units
Kubernetes computing is billed using units based on 1 core and 2 GB RAM per hour.
Hosting units
Virtual machines and containers are billed using infrastructure units based on 1 vCore and 2 GB RAM.
Storage units
Storage services are billed by TB. The invoiced amount of disk space is estimated as the monthly average of daily averages.
Service rates 2026
The following tables summarize the SCC service rates. Amounts are shown for internal and external rates. Use these rates together with the usage calculation rules above to estimate monthly or prepaid consumption.
High Performance Computing
| Service | Unit | Internal rate | External rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| HPC Storage | TB / month |
6,95 € | 13,90 € |
| Standard CPU Computing | 1 core / 8 GB · hour |
0,01 € | 0,02 € |
| High Parallelization CPU Computing | 1 core / 8 GB · hour |
0,022 € | 0,044 € |
| Standard GPU Computing | 1 unit / 8 GB · hour |
0,17 € | 0,34 € |
| High Parallelization GPU Computing | 1 unit / 8 GB · hour |
0,17 € | 0,34 € |
| Kubernetes Computing | 1 core / 2 GB · hour |
0,008 € | 0,016 € |
| HPC Technician | hour |
31,89 € | 63,78 € |
Second-tier Storage
| Service | Unit | Internal rate | External rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| HPC Archive | TB / month |
3,08 € | 6,16 € |
| Backup | TB / month |
3,12 € | 6,24 € |
Hosting
| Service | Unit | Internal rate | External rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Machine | 1 vCore / 2 GB |
15,79 € | 31,58 € |
| Container | 1 vCore / 2 GB |
10,53 € | 21,06 € |
| Hosting Maintenance | month / service |
47,83 € | 95,66 € |
| Hosting Technician | hour |
31,89 € | 63,78 € |
Prepaid packs
Prepaid packs are useful when expected usage is known in advance. They must be purchased before use and expire two years from the purchase date.
| Pack | Internal rate | External rate |
|---|---|---|
| HPC Storage Pack — 100 units | 694,92 € | 1.389,84 € |
| High Parallelization CPU Computing Pack — 100.000 units | 2.209,14 € | 4.418,28 € |
| Standard CPU Computing Pack — 150.000 units | 1.452,70 € | 2.905,40 € |
| High Parallelization GPU Computing Pack — 50.000 units | 8.511,60 € | 17.023,20 € |
| Standard GPU Computing Pack — 5.000 units | 851,74 € | 1.703,48 € |
| Kubernetes Computing Pack — 125.000 units | 967,93 € | 1.935,86 € |
| HPC Archive Pack — 100 units | 307,68 € | 615,36 € |
| Backup Pack — 100 units | 311,14 € | 622,28 € |
| Virtual Machine Pack — 50 units | 789,48 € | 1.578,96 € |
| Container Pack — 50 units | 526,21 € | 1.052,42 € |
Usage and billing transparency
Real-time visibility of usage, estimated costs and monthly billing history.
Users and project owners can monitor resource consumption and the associated computation costs using the rates assigned to their group or project.
Real-time consumption
View current usage of compute, GPU, storage, hosting and other SCC services as projects consume resources.
Cost by rate
Translate resource consumption into estimated costs according to the applicable internal, external or project-specific rate.
Monthly billing history
Review previous billing periods, compare monthly usage and understand how costs evolve across the lifetime of a project.
Project owner view
Principal investigators and authorised managers can follow usage by project, service and user to support planning and accountability.
Questions about rates or billing?
If you are planning a project, need to estimate costs or want to discuss the most appropriate payment model, contact the SCC team before starting large workloads.