Unfortunately, only faculty (and a few others) are eligible for their own ResearchDrive space. Graduate students and others who need to store research data should talk with an advisor, supervisor, or another faculty member about using their ResearchDrive space. Faculty, we are counting on you to make sure all graduate students can store their data in ResearchDrive.

Insofar as we can, we have made working with data in ResearchDrive similar to working with data in SSCC storage. That includes organizing it into "projects" that can be shared with others. These projects will be placed under a folder called sscc inside ResearchDrive. Request a project by filling out the project request form. If you do not yet have ResearchDrive space, or if it is not yet set up to be managed by the SSCC, the form will help you correct that. You can then manage permissions for projects using the SSCC's Self-Service Portal or by emailing the Help Desk. (Email requesting that someone be given access to a project must come from the project owner.)

We cannot manage ResearchDrive space for SMPH affiliates or those without SSCC accounts. If you are an SMPH affiliate, you will need to contact SMPH IT for assistance with managing ResearchDrive permissions. If you are sharing your ResearchDrive with people who do not have SSCC accounts you’ll need to set those permissions using the DoIT-provided tool for managing permissions, called Manifest.

Connecting to ResearchDrive

ResearchDrive is available from anywhere on the UW-Madison campus network, or off-campus via VPN.

Connecting to ResearchDrive from Windows and Mac

On your own computer or Winstat, you can map a drive to ResearchDrive just like SSCC network drives. Specifically, map \\researchdrive.ssc.wisc.edu\project as the R: drive. For example, if you've been given access to PI bbadger's project called on_wisconsin, map R: to \\researchdrive.ssc.wisc.edu\project and then the project will be R:\on_wisconsin. 

When you are asked to log in, your username must be given as NetID@ad.wisc.edu where NetID should be replaced by your NetID (not the NetID of the person whose ResearchDrive you are using). Then give your NetID password (not SSCC password).

Connecting to ResearchDrive from Linux and Slurm

To access ResearchDrive from Linstat you'll use the rdmount command. You'll then be asked to provide your NetID password (not SSCC password). It will mount any ResearchDrive projects you have access to under /rdproject. For example, PI bbadger's project called on_wisconsin can be found at /rdproject/on_wisconsin.

That directory will be available until the next time the server is rebooted. For the next seven days, any SSCC Linux server you log into or submit a Slurm job to will also automatically mount that directory. After seven days, ResearchDrive will still be available on the servers you've logged into (unless they have been rebooted) but will no longer be mounted automatically on new servers. That could cause problems with jobs submitted to Slurm, for example.

We suggest you run rdmount every seven days so that ResearchDrive will always be available. You'll get a reminder when you log in if your ResearchDrive credentials have expired.

Accessing Entire ResearchDrives

You can also give someone access to your entire ResearchDrive space. This will give them access to all of your projects. You can do so by emailing the SSCC Help Desk or by going to the SSCC’s self-service portal and adding them to the group called rdrive-netid-lab, where netid is replaced by your NetID. But we suggest only giving people access to specific projects so you have more control.

To access an entire ResearchDrive, whether it's your own or someone else's that you've been given access to, map \\research.drive.wisc.edu\netid, where netid should be replaced by the NetID of the ResearchDrive owner. For example, if you have been given access to all of bbadger's ResearchDrive (or if you are bbadger) and map N: to \\research.drive.wisc.edu\bbadger, you'll find the on_wisconsin project in N:\sscc\on_wisconsin.

When you run /rdmount in Linux, any complete ResearchDrives you have access to (including your own) are mounted as /researchdrive/netid, where netid is replaced by the NetID of the project owner. Thus bbadger's on_wisconsin project is also found in /researchdrive/bbadger/sscc/on_wisconsin.

Transferring Data To and From ResearchDrive

You can move data to and from ResearchDrive using standard tools, including drag-and-drop to a mapped drive for all but the largest transfers. The following articles describe more options.

• ResearchDrive - Transferring Data with an Apple Computer
• ResearchDrive - Transferring Data with a Linux Computer
• ResearchDrive - Transferring Data with a Windows Computer

Backups and Restores

The SSCC does not handle backups or restoring files from ResearchDrive. Refer to ResearchDrive - Restoring Files or Folders from Snapshots for information, including how long backups are retained and how you can do your own restores. If you need further assistance with restoring files from Research Drive, contact the ResearchDrive team at researchdrive@wisc.edu.