File storage at the University 

As a University IT account holder, there are a number of locations where your work data (such as documents and other files) can be stored; depending upon whom else you wish to share your files with.

User Data (U:, V: and D:)

Documents and data which you do not need to share, and which are not University Records, should be stored in your Home Folder or Home Directory.

Home Folder (U: or V:)

Your Home Folder is where all your documents should be stored as it is backed up on a regular basis and is available from any computer. For most users this will be either U: (called 'U-drive') or V:, depending upon whether you are using a desktop or a laptop respectively. 

All University IT account holders are allocated an amount of storage space in their Home Folder depending on their relationship with the University.  Areas can arrange to purchase extra storage space if it is required.

Local Data (D:)

Data can be stored on the local hard disk of the computer you are using but this data is not backed up and should only be used as temporary file storage. If you save files onto the local hard disk, they should be saved on the D: drive. Local data is not accessible from any machine other than the one you save it on.

NOTE: Data saved onto D: in the student suites will be DELETED when you log off.

Shared Data (S:, L: and R:)

Shared Folders (S: or L:)

Shared folders have been created for each Faculty and Division on centrally managed servers which can be used for sharing data amongst people in the area.  Within each of these shared folders there is a series of sub-folders for each School, Department or Branch e.g. S:\Services_Resources\ITS is available to all staff, visitors and titleholders in ITS.

The shared folders will appear under the network drive 'S:' for staff, titleholders and visitors and 'L:' for students.  Below is an example for ITS within Services and Resources;

Resources Folder (R:)

Areas that need to store larger amounts of data than can be accommodated on their S: drive can arrange for access to low cost storage via their R: drive.

Policies

Backup

Shared folders and home folders are backed up on a nightly basis.  Corrupted or accidentally deleted files can be restored within a few days of deletion or corruption by individuals users.  If it has been longer and you need files or folders restored contact the ITS Helpdesk.

Content

The storage of files which breach Copyright, may be offensive, or contain malicious software in either home or shared folders is prohibited by University IT policy.   See section 4c for full details.

Archiving

It is recommended that you regularly archive old data to a media such as a CD, DVD, ZIP drive or USB (Memory Stick).

It is not the responsibility of ITS to archive your data for you or to supply you with the media to do so. If you require advice on how to archive data, please contact the ITS Helpdesk.