Network storage
The University provides a secure central file storage facility for staff and students. This benefits users and the University also gains by saving energy.
File storage
This is provided in several ways:
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Z: Drive* : A personal storage area for files that are being worked on and need to be backed up. You are responsible for the content of this information. Only you have access to this (except technical staff for administation purposes)
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shared storage* : Shared at department and school level and is provided to enable sharing of information and documents with immediate colleagues. Contact your IT support reps for details of the shared areas in your department or school
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laptop users : It is recommended that you store information you need when you are out of the office on the laptop C: drive provided that the data is backed up elsewhere. An automated backup solution (Attix5) is available that keeps a copy of selected folders such as My Documents on centralised storage (see your IT Support Rep for information). If you need to share information, then you should store this data on the shared store and access it remotely via the MyFiles Service
*You can access these remotely using the MyFiles service
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Unix : Access storage for UNIX specific systems by contacting the Systems team through your IT Support Representative.
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web-enabled Shared Storage : Course material for students should be shared using the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) WebCT. Staff needing project or group collaboration can request use of the Workspace software. Other options may also be appropriate, so please discuss your requirements with your IT Support Representative. For sharing information outside of the University, please discuss options with IT Support
There are some public solutions to storage, for example Microsoft’s SkyDrive that allow access to information from any internet enabled system. If you are using these please be aware of the following:
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some public solutions provided by western companies such as Google may not be available to people in China. This means that any information that might be of value on the Ningbo Campus will not be available. For this reason, it is not appropriate to use this type of solution for any teaching related materials
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some of these companies will not guarantee the location of storage of your data and it may be kept in locations where UK privacy wishes will not be respected. Also, personal data is not allowed to be transferred outside the EU except under specific circumstances
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there is often little or no guarantee that your data can be recovered if the infrastructure fails. Ensure you have another backup stored elsewhere
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information that is the property of The University of Nottingham should not be stored in these areas
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should there be an issue with storage that is managed outside of IS, we will not be able to assist as any contract will be between the individual and the provider
Filestore security
All centralised file stores are backed up and users can restore information that is up to one day old. Some file stores are replicated in real time to reduce the impact of system failures.
Getting more storage space
IS will provide additional storage space for project or research support. It is very important that you tell us about access and availability needs, expected size and retention of the files. This can take time as storage is purchased or re-organised.
Individual responsibilities
It is for the person who saves information to ensure that they understand privacy, sensitivity of their data and information and ensure retention/deletion in line with regulations and laws. IT Support Representatives should be told of specific protection requirements so they can work with the systems team to support the needs of regulators and information users. University policies provide further information and advice on retention schedules, data protection and records management.
To protect the University’s costs, assets and reputation, it is important that University storage is not used for data, files and images that have copyright elsewhere, are of a purely personal nature (such as personal music collections) or are likely to be considered inappropriate in event of an external investigation of our data stores.
Help and Support
Any questions or requests about storage or new backups should be addressed to your IT Support representative .
Requests for restoration of backups should be made through a call to the IS helpline .