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Data Storage

These services provide capacity for storing raw data. When selecting external data storage facilities special consideration should be given to the volume of data to be stored, how the data will be backed up and any privacy concerns surrounding the data. Online data storage options can be particularly useful in situations where a distributed team of researchers are working on the same data.

What is it and how do I get it?	When should I use it?	What caveats or obstacles are there?	*Support?
ARCS DataFabric A Web based data and document storage area accessible nationally and internationally. Available at no cost to researchers from: www.arcs.org.au/index.php/arcs-data-fabric	Suitable for small to medium size data storage requirements - by default researchers are given 25GB of storage (more is generally available by request). Suitable for situations where access must be restricted to specific individuals across multiple institutions (Nationally and Internationally)	The current default space allocation on the DataFabric is 25GB but additional space can be made available with a valid Research need. This service should not be used to hold the only copy of your data. Make sure you have another copy for safe keeping. To access this service an AAF user account is required. Please contact the University IT Helpdesk on ext. 17000 to organise an account.	External (NeCTAR)
Dropbox A file storage service that stores documents on Internet based servers and synchronises copies of those files across the user's personal computers (PC, MAC, iPhone/iPad, Android phone/tablet, Linux). Files are available on the personal computer when offline (i.e. not connected to the internet) and changes are synchronised the next time the user is online. Refer to: www.dropbox.com	The Dropbox service is suitable for maintaining additional copies of documents and data that are not privacy sensitive. It enables access to documents across multiple computers (e.g. at work and at home) and the ability to restore previous versions of documents in the event of corruption or accidental deletion. It can also be used to share documents among colleagues both internal and external to the University. Dropbox is generally easy to set up and use and integrates well with the operating system on Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android phones/tablets and sometimes Linux.	Dropbox requires users to register for an account. Free accounts are limited to 2GB and 30 days of undo history. You have to pay a monthly or annual fee if your requirements exceed these limits. When sharing files or folders with other users, controls around grant writing or read-only access are limited. It is not possible to share files to some users with write access and other users with read-only (i.e. a folder is either shared to all specified users as read-only or write access). Data is stored in the cloud and transferred over the internet. This is done securely over encrypted channels, but the location of the data may be in countries that have different privacy legislation than Australia. Consideration must be put to ethics requirements for sensitive research are not contraved. Under Linux, Dropbox integrates well with Gnome but may work less well with other window managers.	External (Dropbox)
External Hard Drives (E.g. USB) External hard drives typically connected to a personal computer via a USB cable. These drivers typically range in size from 0.5 to 3 Terabytes.	Suitable for backing up copies of an individual's documents and data files that they are currently working on. Can also be used to transfer files between offline systems or ship larger data sets by courier (e.g. Courier the disk containing large data sets to a colleague). Disk or file encryption should be used when transporting privacy sensitive data.	These drives are not suitable for holding the only copy of any documents and files (i.e. there should be another copy of files located on a PC or MAC etc.). In the case of research critical data or long term storage of research data which supports published works; these drivers should not be the only backup copy. Another copy should be maintained on a suitable storage media (e.g. Archive Tape, The UoN RDS, RDSI Node). USB external hard drives are highly mechanical devises that are prone to failure. The typical average life expectancy is between 3 and 5 years but up to 10% of these drives will fail sometime within the first 3 years (most of them being in the first 6 months). Care should be taken to implement anti-virus precautions when connecting to unknown systems or PCs that are not networked (e.g. instruments). Non networked PCs cannot run up to date AntiVirus software (i.e. they cannot download the latest virus signatures) but they can be infected with viruses through other users USB memory sticks. Storing privacy sensitive data should be avoided due to the mobile nature of these devices and the subsequent risk of loss or theft. If required encryption mechanisms should be used (e.g. Bit Locker under Windows)	End User
Memory Sticks (USB, SDRam) External hard drives typically connected to a personal computer via a USB cable. These drives typically range in size from 2 to 64 Gigabytes.	Suitable for backing up copies of an individual's documents and data files that they are currently working on. Can also be used to transfer data sets between offline systems (e.g. transferring data from a non-networked instrument).	These drives are not suitable for holding the only copy of any documents and files i.e. there should be another copy of files located on a PC or Mac etc. In the case of research critical data or long term storage of research data which supports published works; these drives should not be the only backup copy. Another copy should be maintained on a suitable storage media (e.g. Archive Tape, The UoN RDS, RDSI Node). Storing privacy sensitive data should be avoided due to the mobile nature of these devices and the subsequent risk of loss or theft. If required, encryption mechanisms should be used (e.g. Bit Locker under Windows). Care should be taken to implement anti-virus precautions when connecting to unknown systems or PCs that are not networked (e.g. Instruments). Non networked PC's cannot run up to data AntiVirus software (i.e. it cannot download the latest virus signatures) but they can be infected with viruses through other users USB memory sticks.	End User
NAS Network Attached Storage An appliance accessible over the network for storing data and files. Typically between 2 and 20 Terabytes.	For the sharing and storage of data associated with a small group (5 to 20 people). These devises typically offer redundancy such that a single disk failure does not lose data. Offers a lower cost per terabyte than data centre based Storage Area Network (SAN) but it has limitations with backup and data transfer speeds.	These devices do not generally come with backup facilities. The ability to continue to access data after a disk failure should not be considered a replacement for backups. If the data is corrupted or an individual inadvertently deletes the data, then it may not be recoverable. **The University will provide limited support if the equipment was design-built and managed byt he ARCS IT team. Data integrity cannot be guaranteed due to the backup limitations of these devices.	**UoN Supported
SAN - Storage Area Networks Corporate quality storage typically located in purpose built computer rooms/data centres. Research Group purchased and ARCS Team design, build and managed.	For the sharing and storage of large quantities of data (10 Terabytes to 10 Petabytes+) to fast compute servers and/or large numbers of users (100's to 1000's).	A SAN is a higher cost per Terabyte solution than NAS but provides significant improvements in capacity and data transfer speeds along with Tape Backup for long term archiving. The University will provide limited support if the equipment was design-built and managed by the ARCS IT team. Data integrity cannot be guaranteed due to the backup limitations of these devices.	**UoN Supported
RDSI - Research Data Store Infrastructure A government funded initiative to provide large quantities of storage (100's of Petabytes nationally) for Research dtaa. As of June 2012 this infrastructure was still under construction. http://rdsi.uq.edu.au	For the storage of Research data sets that are of national significance. Further information can be found at http://rdsi.uq.edu.au	Infrastructure is still in the design phase.
Research Data Store The Research Data Store is the University of Newcastle provided storage facility for the long term archiving and curation of research data sets which support published works by UoN academics and RhD/PHD students. http://www.newcastle.edu.au/service/data-storage/research-data-storage-application.html	To store primary research data in a centralised facility that is backed-up, archived and catalogued. The intention being to enhance data re-use (with the permission of the creating academic) and compliance to the Research Data Policy in the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research - http://ands.org.au/guides/code-awareness.html	Space is assigned for specific projects and applications for access are made through Research Division using the application form located at http://www.newcastle.edu.au/ service/data-storage/research-data-storage-application.html
University of Newcastle U: Drive An individual U: drive is allocated to each member of staff and all students. http://www.newcastle.edu.au/service/data-storage/accessing-your-u-drive.html	The U: drive is for documents and small data files for individual staff and student use. They are files that you may be currently working on or are important enough that you do not want to lose them. Deleted or corrupted files in the U: drive can be restored from up to 7 days in the past.	The default space allocation for U: drives is 500MB. This is not a suitable location for files that are to be shared as access cannot be granted to other staff and students.	UoN Supplied
University of Newcastle Divisional Drives (S: and R:) An S: drive is shared storage space that is typically allocated to whole of Faculty, School or Division. If your department has been allocated a shared space, it will appear as an S: drive. To request access to your groups S: drive submit a signed application from to IT Services.	The S: drive is for documents and data files that are being collaboratively worked on or being shared amongst a University organisational group (e.g. School, Division, PRC). These divisional drives are backed up daily.	The space allocation for S: drives vary but typical sizes are between 5 and 200 Gigabytes. The S: drive is not suitable for large data sets as allocations more than 500 Gigabytes are unlikely.	UoN Supplied
*Support	Source of Support for Service
UoN Supplied	Deployed, managed and supported by the University and provided to Researchers at no additional cost.
UoN Supported	Deployed, managed and supported by the University with some additional costs to the Researcher, Centre or Faculty.
End User	The item is end user supported. The University is not in a position to provide technical support or assurances that the product will work within the University environment.
External (Organisation)	Deployed, managed and supported by an organisation external to the University. Additional costs may apply.

What is it and how do I get it?

When should I use it?

What caveats or obstacles are there?

*Support?

ARCS DataFabric
A Web based data and document storage area accessible nationally and internationally.

Available at no cost to researchers from:
www.arcs.org.au/index.php/arcs-data-fabric

Suitable for small to medium size data storage requirements - by default researchers are given 25GB of storage (more is generally available by request). Suitable for situations where access must be restricted to specific individuals across multiple institutions (Nationally and Internationally)

The current default space allocation on the DataFabric is 25GB but additional space can be made available with a valid Research need.

This service should not be used to hold the only copy of your data. Make sure you have another copy for safe keeping.

To access this service an AAF user account is required. Please contact the University IT Helpdesk on ext. 17000 to organise an account.

External (NeCTAR)

Dropbox
A file storage service that stores documents on Internet based servers and synchronises copies of those files across the user's personal computers (PC, MAC, iPhone/iPad, Android phone/tablet, Linux). Files are available on the personal computer when offline (i.e. not connected to the internet) and changes are synchronised the next time the user is online.

Refer to: www.dropbox.com

The Dropbox service is suitable for maintaining additional copies of documents and data that are not privacy sensitive.

It enables access to documents across multiple computers (e.g. at work and at home) and the ability to restore previous versions of documents in the event of corruption or accidental deletion.

It can also be used to share documents among colleagues both internal and external to the University.

Dropbox is generally easy to set up and use and integrates well with the operating system on Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android phones/tablets and sometimes Linux.

Dropbox requires users to register for an account. Free accounts are limited to 2GB and 30 days of undo history. You have to pay a monthly or annual fee if your requirements exceed these limits.

When sharing files or folders with other users, controls around grant writing or read-only access are limited. It is not possible to share files to some users with write access and other users with read-only (i.e. a folder is either shared to all specified users as read-only or write access).

Data is stored in the cloud and transferred over the internet. This is done securely over encrypted channels, but the location of the data may be in countries that have different privacy legislation than Australia. Consideration must be put to ethics requirements for sensitive research are not contraved.

Under Linux, Dropbox integrates well with Gnome but may work less well with other window managers.

External (Dropbox)

External Hard Drives (E.g. USB)
External hard drives typically connected to a personal computer via a USB cable. These drivers typically range in size from 0.5 to 3 Terabytes.

Suitable for backing up copies of an individual's documents and data files that they are currently working on.

Can also be used to transfer files between offline systems or ship larger data sets by courier (e.g. Courier the disk containing large data sets to a colleague). Disk or file encryption should be used when transporting privacy sensitive data.

These drives are not suitable for holding the only copy of any documents and files (i.e. there should be another copy of files located on a PC or MAC etc.).

In the case of research critical data or long term storage of research data which supports published works; these drivers should not be the only backup copy. Another copy should be maintained on a suitable storage media (e.g. Archive Tape, The UoN RDS, RDSI Node).

USB external hard drives are highly mechanical devises that are prone to failure. The typical average life expectancy is between 3 and 5 years but up to 10% of these drives will fail sometime within the first 3 years (most of them being in the first 6 months).

Care should be taken to implement anti-virus precautions when connecting to unknown systems or PCs that are not networked (e.g. instruments). Non networked PCs cannot run up to date AntiVirus software (i.e. they cannot download the latest virus signatures) but they can be infected with viruses through other users USB memory sticks.

Storing privacy sensitive data should be avoided due to the mobile nature of these devices and the subsequent risk of loss or theft. If required encryption mechanisms should be used (e.g. Bit Locker under Windows)

End User

Memory Sticks (USB, SDRam)
External hard drives typically connected to a personal computer via a USB cable. These drives typically range in size from 2 to 64 Gigabytes.

Suitable for backing up copies of an individual's documents and data files that they are currently working on.

Can also be used to transfer data sets between offline systems (e.g. transferring data from a non-networked instrument).

These drives are not suitable for holding the only copy of any documents and files i.e. there should be another copy of files located on a PC or Mac etc.

In the case of research critical data or long term storage of research data which supports published works; these drives should not be the only backup copy. Another copy should be maintained on a suitable storage media (e.g. Archive Tape, The UoN RDS, RDSI Node).

Storing privacy sensitive data should be avoided due to the mobile nature of these devices and the subsequent risk of loss or theft. If required, encryption mechanisms should be used (e.g. Bit Locker under Windows).

Care should be taken to implement anti-virus precautions when connecting to unknown systems or PCs that are not networked (e.g. Instruments). Non networked PC's cannot run up to data AntiVirus software (i.e. it cannot download the latest virus signatures) but they can be infected with viruses through other users USB memory sticks.

End User

NAS Network Attached Storage
An appliance accessible over the network for storing data and files. Typically between 2 and 20 Terabytes.

For the sharing and storage of data associated with a small group (5 to 20 people). These devises typically offer redundancy such that a single disk failure does not lose data.

Offers a lower cost per terabyte than data centre based Storage Area Network (SAN) but it has limitations with backup and data transfer speeds.

These devices do not generally come with backup facilities. The ability to continue to access data after a disk failure should not be considered a replacement for backups. If the data is corrupted or an individual inadvertently deletes the data, then it may not be recoverable.

**The University will provide limited support if the equipment was design-built and managed byt he ARCS IT team. Data integrity cannot be guaranteed due to the backup limitations of these devices.

**UoN Supported

SAN - Storage Area Networks
Corporate quality storage typically located in purpose built computer rooms/data centres.

Research Group purchased and ARCS Team design, build and managed.

For the sharing and storage of large quantities of data (10 Terabytes to 10 Petabytes+) to fast compute servers and/or large numbers of users (100's to 1000's).

A SAN is a higher cost per Terabyte solution than NAS but provides significant improvements in capacity and data transfer speeds along with Tape Backup for long term archiving.

The University will provide limited support if the equipment was design-built and managed by the ARCS IT team. Data integrity cannot be guaranteed due to the backup limitations of these devices.

**UoN Supported

RDSI - Research Data Store Infrastructure
A government funded initiative to provide large quantities of storage (100's of Petabytes nationally) for Research dtaa. As of June 2012 this infrastructure was still under construction.
http://rdsi.uq.edu.au

For the storage of Research data sets that are of national significance. Further information can be found at http://rdsi.uq.edu.au

Infrastructure is still in the design phase.

Research Data Store
The Research Data Store is the University of Newcastle provided storage facility for the long term archiving and curation of research data sets which support published works by UoN academics and RhD/PHD students.

http://www.newcastle.edu.au/service/data-storage/research-data-storage-application.html

To store primary research data in a centralised facility that is backed-up, archived and catalogued. The intention being to enhance data re-use (with the permission of the creating academic) and compliance to the Research Data Policy in the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research - http://ands.org.au/guides/code-awareness.html

Space is assigned for specific projects and applications for access are made through Research Division using the application form located at http://www.newcastle.edu.au/ service/data-storage/research-data-storage-application.html

University of Newcastle U: Drive
An individual U: drive is allocated to each member of staff and all students.

http://www.newcastle.edu.au/service/data-storage/accessing-your-u-drive.html

The U: drive is for documents and small data files for individual staff and student use. They are files that you may be currently working on or are important enough that you do not want to lose them.

Deleted or corrupted files in the U: drive can be restored from up to 7 days in the past.

The default space allocation for U: drives is 500MB.

This is not a suitable location for files that are to be shared as access cannot be granted to other staff and students.

UoN Supplied

University of Newcastle Divisional Drives (S: and R:)
An S: drive is shared storage space that is typically allocated to whole of Faculty, School or Division. If your department has been allocated a shared space, it will appear as an S: drive.

To request access to your groups S: drive submit a signed application from to IT Services.

The S: drive is for documents and data files that are being collaboratively worked on or being shared amongst a University organisational group (e.g. School, Division, PRC).

These divisional drives are backed up daily.

The space allocation for S: drives vary but typical sizes are between 5 and 200 Gigabytes.

The S: drive is not suitable for large data sets as allocations more than 500 Gigabytes are unlikely.

UoN Supplied

*Support

Source of Support for Service

UoN Supplied

Deployed, managed and supported by the University and provided to Researchers at no additional cost.

UoN Supported

Deployed, managed and supported by the University with some additional costs to the Researcher, Centre or Faculty.

End User

The item is end user supported. The University is not in a position to provide technical support or assurances that the product will work within the University environment.

External (Organisation)

Deployed, managed and supported by an organisation external to the University. Additional costs may apply.

The University of Newcastle, Australia

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Data Storage

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