This is a quick discussion of the options for storing research data that does not differentiate between accessible data and backup.
Physical Media; Usb flash drives and external drives
Generally not recommended as they are easily lost/broken, unwittingly carry infections from machine to machine, while attached offer no data safeguard if something physically disastrous happens to the computer and surrounding area, etc. They do have the large advantage of being easily understood and used by anyone competent enough to work in the lab. If the lab machine is not on the network these are pretty much your only options.
Box
Cloud storage. As Box has an upper file size limit no one in the school that I’m aware of uses it.
OneDrive
Not recommended especially if the lab machine uses a generic local log in as this exposes the data of whomever’s OneDrive is in use to anyone who logs into the computer. OneDrive is aggressive in its attempts to store a person’s data (where does Microsoft Word default to saving a file?) so even being careful with where a person’s data is stored you can wind up with personal data on a lab machine or, vice versa, lab data on your office computer. MOST IMPORTANTLY, when the person whose OneDrive is being used leaves GT, all the data is erased when his OneDrive access ends.
SharePoint through teams
Not recommended. This storage space isn’t designed for this type of use and is cumbersome to use. Of concern is keeping the instrument’s “team” up to date so there isn’t a chance of losing data when the last team member leaves.
DropBox
Not recommended for lab machines that use a generic local log in as this exposes the data of whomever logs in to dropbox to anyone who can log into the computer. If the lab computer being used has individual log in then DropBox can be used.
DropBox does not do well with lots of files or with large file sizes so its suitability varies with the data being collected. Care must be taken with the “sync” option as it is easy to overwhelm the local hard drive with all the data residing in the cloud. With this care the instrument’s data folder can be synced to the cloud for near real time access to instrument data. Using ChBE’s dropbox account is recommended as it has a large, essentially unlimited for most people’s needs, data storage limit and the instrument data can easily be shared among the relevant members of the research group. Using the ChBE dropbox account also means that the data is automatically retained when a person leaves.
A ChBE dropbox account for a research group can be had with a simple support request to support@chbe.gatech.edu.
CEDAR or EVPR storage
Strongly recommended. GT now provides every PI with 10 Terabytes of free space on PACE to store research data. As it is for research data only it can even be used on instrument machines with generic log ons – assuming everyone with access to the machine has access to data on CEDAR. It can be mounted as a network drive so instrument data, assuming a stable network connection, can be stored directly on CEDAR bypassing the local hard drive. It does have the drawback of being scheduled for 3 days of downtime every quarter for maintenance.
CEDAR comes in two flavors; the original PACE and the CoE wrapper. If you are using PACE already, are comfortable handling sharing permissions, or just want to share with the entire group going with the original PACE flavor is recommended. If you have a complicated file/data sharing scheme and are uncomfortable setting up those shares going with the CoE wrapper allows the ChBE IT team to assist with assigning permissions. Please send a support request to support@chbe.gatech.edu to gain access. The process is currently just answering a few questions depending on the flavor you want.
Remote access
Strongly recommended.
hj