BookedSlurm: meeting user needs for advanced resource reservations in Slurm

Modern scientific discovery is frequently backed by largescale scientific experiments, which cannot prescind from the unparalleled computational capabilities provided by highperformance computing systems. However, large data centers usually prioritize system efficiency over user accessibility, posing challenges for researchers without advanced computer science expertise. This work introduces BookedSlurm, a secure and userfocused extension of the Slurm workload manager, aiming to democratize HPC access across interdisciplinary research domains. BookedSlurm enables a partially decentralized regulation of finegrained advanced resource reservations through a novel creditbased framework, ensuring fair and predictable access to computing resources. Its modular architecture leverages dedicated microservices to manage reservations, credit handling, and accounting. These components are exposed through a secure REST API and an intuitive webbased dashboard, enhancing system usability for novice and expert users. While the dashboard simplifies interactions for nonspecialists, advanced users can directly access agentlevel APIs for more complex and automated operations. The effectiveness of BookedSlurm is validated on a realworld bioinformatics use case from the SUSMIRRI.IT project, showcasing its ability to enhance usability, optimize job scheduling, and streamline execution workflows.