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The typical way to access the HPC resources is through ssh (Secure Shell). You will need an ssh client on your laptop/workstation. If your workstation is a Linux or Mac system then you already have what you need. Simply open a terminal session and instantiate an ssh session. If you have a Windows machine then you will have to obtain an ssh client. There are a couple of options but the recommended one is SecureCRT, which is licensed by the University of Iowa.

If you are on campus or connected to the VPN then you can access the HPC systems as follows:

Since the standard port for ssh is often used to attempt to break in to systems, an alternate port is used if you are off-campus and not connected to the VPN.

Both HPC systems have multiple login nodes (3 for Helium, 2 for Neon) so the above will connect you to one of the login nodes in a round-robin fashion. Generally speaking you do not have to worry about which login node you are on but be aware that different ssh sessions of yours could be running on different login nodes. The login nodes have both internal and external names with the internal name being the one visible in your shell. The mapping between internal and external names is pretty straight forward but is different between Helium and Neon.

The above may be useful if you need to reconnect back to the same login node for some reason.