At IUB and IUPUI, what options do I have for storing my files?

On this page:

• Quick guide to storage options
• Removable storage media
• Centralized storage
  • Long-term storage
  • Temporary storage

Quick guide to storage options

Removable storage media

An excellent option for storing and transporting your files is a portable USB drive (thumb or flash drive). Flash drives are useful for files, such as word processing files (e.g., papers or other assignments, notes), PowerPoint presentations, and other files you need to access and work on from multiple computers.

For more permanent storage, consider burning a CD-R or DVD. This might be useful for completed projects or as a backup.

While these media give you greater physical control over your files, use of them is subject to the availability of the drives (except for portable USB drives, which require only a USB port). For more about removable media at IU Bloomington, see In which IUB STCs can I find removable media devices? and At IUB, in a Mac OS X STC, how can I view a DVD? For more about removable media at IUPUI, see In which IUPUI STCs can I find removable media devices?

Note: Removable storage media can be easily misplaced, damaged, or magnetized, causing you to lose data. You should always have more than one copy of important files. For critical files, you should have one copy on your computer for convenience and easy access, one on removable media for quick recovery, and one on a server that is regularly backed up and can be reliably recovered (e.g., Oncourse CL).

Centralized storage

UITS maintains several systems on which you can store files. The primary advantage of centralized storage is availability. All you need in order to access most of these systems is an IU Network ID and a connection to the network.

Long-term storage

• Oncourse CL: The Resources tool in Oncourse CL provides 1GB of storage space for individual use. In addition to storing files in Resources for your own use, if you are an instructor or the owner of a project site, you can use Resources to share files with a class or project team. For more, see File storage in Oncourse CL.
  
  
• Distributed storage services: IU offers a rich set of distributed storage services to researchers on all IU campuses, including the Research File System (RFS) and the Massive Data Storage Service (MDSS). Accounts are available on these systems for faculty, staff, and graduate students.

  To find out which storage service is best for you, see the Research Storage group's Frequently Asked Questions about Distributed Storage at IU.

• Unix accounts: You can store files on Quarry, a general-purpose Unix system. See:
  
  
  • At IU, what is Quarry?
  • Getting started on Quarry

Temporary storage

Graduate students, faculty, and staff can use the Slashtmp service to temporarily store and share large files via a web interface.

Note: Do not use Slashtmp as a place to store data subject to HIPAA or FDA CFR 11 regulations. When uploading other information classified as critical at IU (e.g., Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, or bank account numbers), you must encrypt the uploaded file by entering an encryption password. To reduce the risk of unauthorized people accessing your file, send the password and the file URL to the intended recipient in separate messages.

Also, the Unix research systems have a scratch or temporary directory in which you can place files. For more, including information about when scratch directories are purged, see At IU, how much disk space is available to me on the research systems?

Note: UITS does not maintain any backups for temporary or scratch directories, so you will not be able to retrieve your files if they are deleted.

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