Setonix-Q Pilot
This page summarises the information about the Setonix-Q Pilot Scheme and the Setonix-Q classical partition and Quantum Hub Portal.
Overview
Setonix-Q Pilot is a NCMAS allocation scheme aiming to provide researchers access to Quantum Computers (or Quantum Processing Units, QPUs) along with classical computing resources to enable hybrid quantum classical workflows.
Computing Resources
Setonix-Q Pilot introduces a unique dual allocation system:
Access to quantum simulators running on hardware powered by NVIDIA GraceHopper GH200 superchips on Setonix
Access to quantum hardware, simulators, and a broad set of software tools on Amazon Braket through Pawsey’s new quantum access portal, hub.quantum.pawsey.org.au.
Classical Computing Resources
Classical computing is provided by 4 4xGH200 Setonix nodes, which are part of the quantum slurm partition. These nodes are for running quantum computing simulations at scale, particularly noisy simulations to test the viability of quantum algorithms on Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) devices.
These nodes have access to other Pawsey infrastructure such as
Lustre
/scratchand/softwarefilesystemsAcacia S3 storage
Setonix login, data-mover, and workflow nodes.
For more details see Quantum Partition: Quick Start .
Quantum Computing Resources
Quantum computing resources are provided by accessing AWS Braket hosted QPUs through the Quantum Hub Portal, hub.quantum.pawsey.org.au. The number and types of QPUs available on AWS Braket is subject to change without notice. As of Oct 2025, the available QPUs are:
Device | Number of Qubits | Type |
|---|---|---|
IonQ Aria1, Aria2 | 25 | Universal gate-model ion-trap QPU with error mitigation support |
IonQ Forte1, Forte1 Enterprise | 36 | Universal gate-model ion-trap QPU with error mitigation support |
IQM Garnet | 20 | Universal gate-model superconducting QPU |
IQM Emerald | 56 | Universal gate-model superconducting QPU |
QuEra Aquila | 256 | Analog neutral atom-based configurable QPU |
Rigetti Ankaa-3 | 82 | Universal gate-model superconducting QPU |
For more details see Quantum Hub: Portal Quick Start .
Allocation
The budget of Setonix-Q Pilot is different from other schemes as it is explicitly divided into classical and quantum components.
Classical component of the allocation provides access to the Setonix-Q Pilot NVIDIA GH200 nodes and follows Setonix-CPU/GPU for how current and total budgets are allocated, queried and tracked. Allocations are split quarterly and usage can be viewed using Origin. Like Setonix-CPU/GPU, usage can exceed 100% with jobs running at a lower priority. The resource cost per SU also follows the energy-based charges of Setonix-GPU.
Quantum component of the allocation is provided for the entire year but usage cannot exceed 100%. Once consumed, members of a project will no longer be able to run any Quantum Computing jobs through the Pawsey Quantum Hub portal which provides access to AWS Braket. The allocation and use is tracked using the projects dashboard located at the hub.quantum.pawsey.org.au . Additionally, the SU cost is variable, depending on QPU device used and can change without notice. We will endeavour to communicate changes but cannot provide advanced warning of SU changes.
Exhausted allocation: Classical vs Quantum
Following standard Pawsey budget constraints, jobs running on Setonix when the quarterly allocation has been exhausted are submitted to the queue at lowered priority. However, the quantum budget is given in a yearly allocation and if the allocation is exhausted, no more jobs will run.
Take extra care managing your quantum budget.
Budget tracking
Setonix-Q Classical is tracked using Origin (portal.pawsey.org.au/origin/portal/) or
pawseyAccountBalanceSetonix-Q Quantum is tracked using links in the project’s dashboard at hub.quantum.pawey.org
Setonix-Q Quantum budget
The Setonix-Q Quantum of Setonix-Q pilot is itself subdivided into “Quantum” and “Classical” budgets. This is because there are specific costs associated with running an individual quantum task on a given QPU and costs that are associated with classical compute (such as storing results on AWS S3 storage, retrieving data from this storage, running jupyter notebooks on AWS instances, etc). Thus, there is some separation between these two types of costs.
The allocation on the hub is presented as a budget in USD, rather than SUs, as seen in Origin for the classical computing allocation of Setonix-Q Pilot.
Quantum allocation unit
Another key difference is that the quantum allocation is presented in USD, rather than SU. We relate USD to SU based on classical computation, with each SU costing approximately 0.025$AUD. Thus 1 USD is equivalent to 62.5 SU. This is necessary due to how AWS charges for services.
User Level Allocation
This budget is also split between individual user allocations. Users have allocations based on the percent of the total budget, which can be 1-99%. The total % sum of all individuals must be >= 100% of the total budget. This ensures that individuals can have access to the entire allocation, similar to the Setonix-Q Classical component where every member of the project has equal access to the entire allocation. One can also set specific budgets for users so that a single user is not able to exhaust the entire budget.
Individual user allocations example
Users can have allocations of a percent of the total allocation, limiting their ability to consume the entire budget. Consider a project with 3 users, A, B, C.
A has an allocation of 99%
B has an allocation of 40%
C has an allocation of 70%
In this scenario, if 50% of the total budget is consumed and B consumed 40%, only user B will no longer have permission to submit any quantum tasks. Both A and C can still submit quantum tasks and consume more of the budget.
If B has consumed 40%, C 58%, then despite having access to all of the budget A will only be able to consume 2% of the budget before the total budget is exhausted and all users of the project are blocked from submitting quantum tasks.