UIS offers research storage services for different use cases. There are services if you want to store:
- active research data that is backed up
- active research data where you don’t need backups
- sensitive or confidential research data
- research data that is no longer active, but must be kept for a long time
- research data for publication
You can find more information about best practices for managing your research data on the research data website.
Research File Share (RFS)
The Research File Share (RFS) is for:
- large volumes of active data
- medium performance for average speed data processing
- backed up with an off-site copy
- additional data safety features
It is suitable for group data shares that need additional protection and accessibility.
Costs
- Standard price: 1-100TB costs £116.10 per TB, per year.
- Volume price: Above 100TB costs £95.00 per TB, per year.
- Institutions that consolidate their accounts into a single, centrally managed account could be eligible for the volume price.
Sharing data
Data can only be shared within the University. Users will need to be set up with an account.
Accessing data
- Available from the High Performance Computing (HPC) service.
- Server Message Block (SMB) or Common Internet File System (CIFS). You can use these network file-sharing protocols on Windows, Linux and macOS.
- Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) from within the University of Cambridge network.
- Data is fast to transfer. Using SFTP or SMB protocols to transfer from your computer, speed rates can achieve hundreds of megabytes per second. This depends on your network speed. If you transfer data within High Performance Computing services, rates are in tens of gigabytes per second. This is similar to Research Data Storage (RDS).
Security
Each storage service has been assessed for the type of data that it can securely store. The University uses 4 levels to classify the data along with the impact of the data being disclosed, lost, modified or destroyed. You can see the full list of data security classifications which explains each level and impact.
RFS is suitable for high impact (level 2 or level 3) data.
How to get access
To get access to the Research File Share visit the Data Storage page on the Research Computing Services’ website. You can also contact support@hpc.cam.ac.uk.
Research Data Storage (RDS)
Research Data Storage (RDS) is for:
- large volumes of working data
- high performance for fast data processing
- no backups
This service is ideal for individuals or research groups who want to process data on the High Performance Computing service, or to store an additional copy of data processed elsewhere.
Costs
- Standard price: 1-100TB costs £54 per TB, per year.
- Volume price: Above 100TB costs £39.36 per TB, per year.
- Institutions that consolidate their accounts into a single, centrally managed account could be eligible for the volume price.
Sharing data
Data can be shared externally once users are set up with a user account through the Self-service gateway.
Accessing data
- High-performance access from the High Performance Computing service only.
- Remotely accessible using Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP). For example, Filezilla.
- Data is fast to transfer. Using SFTP protocols to transfer from your computer, speed rates can achieve hundreds of megabytes per second. This depends on your network speed. If you transfer data within the High Performance Computing service, rates are in tens of gigabytes per second.
Security
Each storage service has been assessed for the type of data that it can securely store. The University uses 4 levels to classify the data along with the impact of the data being disclosed, lost, modified or destroyed. You can see the full list of data security classifications which explains each level and impact.
RDS is suitable for medium impact (level 2) data.
How to get access
To get access to the Research Data Storage visit the Data Storage page on the Research Computing Services’ website. You can also contact support@hpc.cam.ac.uk.
Secure Research Computing Platform (SRCP)
Secure Research Computing Platform (SRCP):
- is for sensitive or confidential data
- provides a secure, isolated, and controlled environment for data storage, processing, and analysis
- adheres to the highest standards of data privacy and security
- is an ISO27001 Certified Platform Service
Costs
- Costs vary depending on your needs.
- Please contact srcp@hpc.cam.ac.uk for more information.
Sharing data
Data can only be shared by Data Managers within data projects inside a secure tenancy. For more details please contact srcp@hpc.cam.ac.uk.
Accessing data
- Available from SRCP service.
- Remotely accessible SFTP endpoint for uploading and downloading curated data.
- Upload and download is controlled by Data Managers.
Security
Each storage service has been assessed for the type of data that it can securely store. The University uses 4 levels to classify the data along with the impact of the data being disclosed, lost, modified or destroyed. You can see the full list of data security classifications which explains each level and impact.
SRCP is suitable for very high impact (level 3) data.
How to get access
For access to the Secure Research Computing Platform (SRCP) visit the SRCP page on the Research Computing Services’ website. You can also contact srcp@hpc.cam.ac.uk.
Research Cold Storage (RCS)
Research Cold Storage (RCS) is for:
- large volumes of inactive data
- low performance for slow data processing
- backed up with an off-site copy
It is designed to provide secure storage for larger data files where slow data retrieval is acceptable.
Costs
- Standard price: 1-100TB costs £30.72 per TB, per year.
- Volume price: Above 100TB costs £21.60 per, TB per year.
- Institutions that consolidate their accounts into a single, centrally managed account could be eligible for the volume price.
Sharing data
Data can only be shared within the University. Users will need to be set up with an account.
Accessing data
- Available from the High Performance Computing service.
- Remotely accessible using Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP). For example, Filezilla.
- Data retrieval is slow. It may take hours or days to retrieve data depending on the size of data being retrieved.
Security
Each storage service has been assessed for the type of data that it can securely store. The University uses 4 levels to classify the data along with the impact of the data being disclosed, lost, modified or destroyed. You can see the full list of data security classifications which explains each level and impact.
RCS is suitable for medium impact (level 2) data.
How to get access
To get access to the Research Cold Storage visit the Data Storage page on the Research Computing Services’ website. You can also contact support@hpc.cam.ac.uk.
Research Data Repository
Research Data Repository is for completed research data that needs to be to be publicly archived.
Costs
- The current one-off charge for long-term curated data storage is £4/GB for datasets above 20GB.
- The total charge will be £4/GB multiplied by the total amount of GB of data you submit. For example, if you are submitting 22GB of data, we will invoice your grant for £88.
- Data sets below 20GB are free.
Sharing data
Data is publicly available on the Research Data Repository website.
Security
Each storage service has been assessed for the type of data that it can securely store. The University uses 4 levels to classify the data along with the impact of the data being disclosed, lost, modified or destroyed. You can see the full list of data security classifications which explains each level and impact.
Research Data Repository is suitable for low impact (level 1) data.
How to get access
To get access to the Research Data Repository visit the Cambridge Research Data Management website.