Data Storage Options

Wesleyan offers a variety of data storage options.  Data requirements are constantly changing and demands increasing. ITS attempts to keep pace with these changes while working within budgetary limitations.  The amount of storage users requires varies dramatically.  The use of quotas assists in managing storage space.  Users should retain relevant data and purge what is no longer needed.  The quotas can be adjusted upon request with justification. ITS maintains enough resources to back up all data stored on the network and a significant portion stored on the desktop.

Large Data Storage

Data storage needs may vary dramatically. Wesleyan attempts to provide storage adequate to support faculty instruction and a portion of research.  However some disciplines may require volumes of storage greater than ITS can reasonably provide within existing budgets.  As a general guideline, faculty can expect to request and receive central storage (storage not on the local desktop or locally attached devices) in one or more of the options listed below up to a total of 200GB.  This number may vary depending on length of need and type of storage. 

While faculty may choose to buy local drives to accommodate their needs, depending on the size, Wesleyan may not be able to provide backup for those devices.  Computers not allocated for research or labs and exceeding 200GB may be subject to reduction. 

To support large data storage needs including labs and grant funded research (consistently 500GB and greater), faculty may buy into central storage purchased for this purpose. See FlexStorage below.

Storage Options

Unix-Based Storage and High Performance Computing
There are a variety of Unix-based storage options depending on the needs of user.  Details regarding Unix-based storage and computing options can be found here. http://www.wesleyan.edu/its/unix/

Wesfiles
Wesleyan staff and students have access to a file sharing system called Wesfiles (http://wesfiles.wesleyan.edu). This system is web-based and uses your existing Wesleyan login.  Users can access their data from anywhere they have an Internet connection. Space quotas for home directories are 10GB for faculty, 5GB for staff, and 1 GB for students. Departmental areas are available for easy sharing within disciplines and departments.  This system also allows for collaboration and file sharing beyond the Wesleyan community through the creation of tickets.  Users can give access to files or folders to individuals from other institutions without having to create a guest account.

Windows/Dragon
Many faculty and staff continue to have file space on Dragon, network attached storage that is part of the Wesleyan Windows Domain. Dragon is accessed using your Wesleyan Domain account name and password. Disk space quotas on Dragon home directories are 1 GB for faculty and staff. Dragon is available for the purpose of sharing files. ITS is in the process of assisting departments in migrating their data to Wesfiles as that becomes the primary system for the vast majority of data storage. Students already use Wesfiles for this purpose.

Media Database - www.wesleyan.edu/its/mediadb
The Media Database Workspace is a place where media files (images, video, audio, animations or texts ) can be uploaded and organized for sharing on the web, either within the Wesleyan community or, if the owner chooses, to the world at large.

For a User's Guide and detailed information about the Media Database including how to get access, users can go here; http://www.wesleyan.edu/its/media/guide/mediadb/

Moodle - http://moodle.wesleyan.edu
Moodle is the University's course management system.  File storage is allowed on the system for files related to courses.  Information on Moodle can be found here: http://moodle.blogs.wesleyan.edu/

Blogs
WordPress, the University's blog system, has a limited amount of storage for documents relevant to the blog.  Information about requesting a blog is here: http://blogs.wesleyan.edu/

Flexstorage
The University has procured an enterprise level, high volume storage system referred to as FlexStorage to provide options for faculty who have large data storage needs.  As a guideline, volumes greater than 500 GB are good candidates for this system.  The system has point in time recovery available as well as replication.  There is a fee associated with this storage option.  Faculty should talk to their Academic Computing Manager to find out pricing as well as arrange for a test space.  The storage supports Mac, Windows and Unix based hosts.