Parallel computers are operated differently than a normal PC, all users must share the system. Therefore, various operative procedures are in place. Users must understand these concepts and procedures to be able to use the available resources of a system to run a parallel application. Moreover, individual solutions can often be found in a specific system.

• Run parallel programs in an HPC environment.
• Use the command-line interface.
• Write robust job scripts, e.g. to simplify job submissions by the help of automated job chaining.
• Select the appropriate software environment.
• Use a workload manager like SLURM or TORQUE to allocate HPC resources (e.g. CPUs) and to submit a batch job.
• Consider cost aspects.
• Measure system performance as a basis for benchmarking a parallel program.
• Benchmark a parallel program.
• Tune a parallel program from the outside via runtime options.
• Apply the workflow for tuning.