Suggestions for connecting to HPC resources using Windows

If you are a Windows user, and don't have a clue on how to interact with HPC clusters, here are a list of suggestions for you.

WSL route

My first suggestion would be to install WSL (Windows subsystem for Linux). The installation instructions are here. Once you install the Linux operating system of your choice, you can open a terminal, and simply ssh to the server of your choice.

Terminal connection — when you ssh to a server for the first time, it will ask you if you trust the fingerprint. Answer yes, if you do.

When using WSL2 under windows:

Running graphical applications is a bit involved. First, you need to install an X11 client. I suggest VcXsrv, but Xming is also popular. Then you have to allow X11 connection between the virtual IP of your WSL and Windows through Windows Firewall. This is a bit involved. The instructions can be found here.
Filesystem between WSL2 and Windows are isolated. Linux side mounts the Windows drive automatically (i.e. in /mnt/c in Ubuntu). On the windows side, you can connect to the Linux side by typing \\wsl$ in the address bar of file explorer.
There are better terminal emulators than what Windows provides. If you have enough resources, I suggest Terminus. If you are more resource limited, Conemu or Alacritty are great alternatives.

Non-WSL solution

Of course you can also do without WSL. Download PuTTY and launch it to get started.

Putty connection — You need to select SSH and write the name of the server in the Host Name section. You can also write a name of your choice in "Saved sessions" box and press save button to save the details of your connection

For transferring files, you can use FileZilla. Once you installed it, you have to connect to the server using "sftp" protocol. You can define a new site for this purpose.

Filezilla settings — In FileZilla, add a new site with protocol set to "SFTP". The hostname should be the server you are trying to connect, and user is the username of the remote server. Once created, the site can be quickly accessed through the toolbar.

Filezilla details — Your local files are on the left, and remote files are on the right. You can either use the dedicated icons, or drag&drop files.