Research Computing Storage
Research Computing provides a home for your research data in the Standard and High Security Zones.
Jump to Standard Security Zone Storage
Jump to High Security Zone Storage
If you need help identifying your level of data sensitivity, as indicated by the University Data Protection Standards, view the RC Systems Data Sensitivity table.
To see more data storage options available on Grounds, please visit the UVA Data Storage Finder.
Standard Security Zone (SSZ) Storage
Storage within the standard security zone is designed for storing public, internal use, and sensitive University data and to interface with Rivanna/Afton HPC clusters. Accounts made for each user will be provisioned /home and /scratch storage at no cost.
| Feature | Home (/home) | Scratch (/scratch) | Research Project Storage (/project) | Research Standard Storage (/standard) |
| Purpose | Personal working directory and scripts | Personal temporary storage for active HPC jobs and computations | High-performance storage option well-suited for HPC jobs and shareable within a research group | Collaborative storage option suited for longer-term storage of HPC job storage outputs; not suited for running jobs |
| Quota | 200 GB | 10 TB | 1 TB increments | 1 TB increments |
| Price | No charge | No charge | $70/TB per year | $45/TB per year (PI with an RC account may request up to 10 TB of Research Standard Storage at no charge) |
| Shareable | No (personal only) | No (personal only) | Yes | Yes |
| Mountable | No (personal only) | No (personal only) | Yes | Yes |
| Data Retention Policy | No automated purging | Files not accessed for 90 days are permanently deleted | No automated purging | No automated purging |
| Snapshots1 | Daily snapshots for 1 week | None | Daily snapshots for 1 week | None |
| Replication2 | None | None | None | None |
| Backup3 | None | None | None | None |
- Snapshot files are non-editable backup copies of all the files and folders in your account, taken at a daily interval. The Research Project Storage system keeps these snapshots for a week. Snapshot files are deleted sequentially after a week has passed. This saving method is useful for human error prevention, as any accidentally deleted files may be recovered.
- Replication is a data management process that stores copies of data fragments over a distributed cluster or database. By having replicated data across each node or server on a given database, data can be accessed more reliably than data that only resides on a single server. This saving method is useful for disaster scenarios where, if data is stored on multiple disks, and one disk fails, the data is still accessible.
- Backup files are copies of files that are stored on a separate disk from the original copies. Files may be backed up on a separate disk storage or within cloud storage. Backed up files are not synced with their original, so any edits to the original are not reflected on the backup. This saving method is useful for disaster scenarios where, if the original disk storage is unsalvageable, the backups may still be accessible.
High Security Zone (HSZ) Storage
Storage within the HSZ is designed for storing highly sensitive or regulated research data, and to interface with the Ivy virtual environment and Rio HPC cluster. An Ivy project is required to provision storage in the HSZ, and data can only be shared with authorized project team members.
| Feature | High Security Research Project Storage (/project) | High Security Research Standard Storage (/standard) |
| Purpose | High-performance storage option well-suited for HPC computations and shareable within a research group | Collaborative storage option suited for longer-term storage of HPC job storage outputs |
| Quota | 1 TB increments | 1 TB increments |
| Price | $70/TB per year | $45/TB per year (PI with an Ivy project will be granted 1 TB of Research Standard Storage at no charge) |
| Shareable | Yes | Yes |
| Mountable | No | No |
| Data Retention Policy | No automated purging | No automated purging |
| Snapshots | Daily snapshots for 1 week | None |
| Replication | None | None |
| Backup | None | None |
Request Storage
Access to shared research storage in the standard security zone is managed through membership in Grouper groups. For those unfamiliar with using Grouper, UVA IT Services has provided some helpful video tutorials:
For faculty requesting new storage, please make sure to request a new Grouper group to manage access to the storage space, and explicitly add yourself as a member of the new group via Grouper.
Ready to request? Use the Research Computing Resource Portal