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Where should I store my data?

Where possible, you should always store data on the network file space associated with your MSD IT Services network account.

Most users have a personal file store (usually drive H:\), which is only accessible by themselves; optionally, you may also have access to one or more shared or group data stores. Data held on MSD IT standard 'high availability' file store is 'mirrored' (written to two geographically separated data stores) and also 'journaled' (the system tracks all changes) and backed up. This allows for the recovery of different daily versions of a file over a period of several months.

Data on the 2TS or 2nd Tier Storage system is backed up daily and only the current and previous versions are kept.

Your network storage is available via any workstation appropriately configured on many Oxford networks. You can also access your data remotely from a fully configured computer via the Oxford VPN service, however this is also dependent on your local network speed

The data is also available through any web browser via the MSD IT NetStorage service.

If you need to work off line & wish to synchronize your data automatically, then you can apply for an iFolder account. iFolder data should be backed up separately.

Can I share data using MSD ITS servers?

In order to share data with other MSD ITS network users, you can apply for a shared data store using the Requesting a new shared drive form on our Registration page. The shared data will normally appear on your Microsoft Windows desktop as a network drive allocated to a letter between I: and Y:. Apple OS X users are able to mount these data stores using 'Connect to Server' in the Finder 'Go' menu. The server address is usally in the format: dept.imsu.ox.ac.uk where dept is your home department.

How can I securely transfer data to collaborators outside the University?

We provide our FILR service for this purpose.  FILR is a 'sync and share' service functionally similar to Dropbox, Google Drive and other similar 'cloud' services.  Our FILR service however, has the benefit of all files being stored and managed on MSD IT Services' own Fileservers.  Files can be shared with members of the University or external users.

Central IT Services provide a secure web based large (up to 25Gb) file transfer service: OxFile. This is a file transfer service only using web browser technology & data should be encrypted if appropriate.

Please contact the MSD IT Service Desk if neither of these solutions meet your requirements.

Backing Up data

Data on MSD IT network file stores is automatically backed up and a number of copies kept. MSD IT Services does not routinely arrange for the back up of  data stored on workstations. If you have data on your workstation that cannot backed up via an network shared folder, you should arrange for the central IT Services HFS workstation back up service to be set up.

MSD IT Services does not provide any archive services. The central IT Services provides University-wide archiving as apart of the HFS service.

Recovering data

If a file has been deleted or corrupted on an MSD IT network store, please contact the Service Desk in order for a previous version to be restored.

It may be possible to recover files that have only just been deleted via your workstation. Contact the MSD IT Service Desk as soon as possible after the problem is noticed.