• Introduction
• Getting Started with Research Object Storage (S3) in Biochemistry
• Archiving data from Research Drive to S3

Introduction

DoIT is now providing even more storage for archival and backup purposes via their Research Object Storage (S3) solution. Similar to cloud-based S3 storage options, the campus S3 solution is highly redundant yet much more affordable. This is a great option if you're looking to cut your storage footprint from other storage applications (Research Drive, Box, Google Drive, etc...) and because S3 is hosted right on campus, the data is more secure compared to if you were to archive it elsewhere.

Some highlights for S3 are:

• PI's and other eligible users receive 50TB's for free.
• If more than 50TB is needed, it costs $60/TB per year (after the first 50TB's are used up)
• Transfers are handled via Globus rather than local client (for quickest possible transfers).

More information on campus' S3 solution can be found on their main S3 page here: https://it.wisc.edu/services/research-object-storage-s3/

Getting Started with Research Object Storage (S3) in Biochemistry

1) Create a ticket in the Biochemistry Job Board requesting an interest in using S3.

2) Biochem IT will request an S3 account on your behalf and then wait for DoIT to provision the account.

3) Confirmation emails will be sent from DoIT to both the PI and Biochem IT with S3 information.

4) Refer back to this KB (steps below) for general procedures.

5) After your S3 account is provisioned by DoIT, Biochem IT will create an S3, Archive, and Retrieve folders in your Research Drive. It will look like so:

Archiving data from Research Drive to S3

1) Move files you want to archive to S3 into the Archive folder*. (You can also leverage Globus to achieve faster transfer rates if needed - ask IT if you need help with this.)

2) Create a ticket in the Biochemistry Job Board requesting IT to transfer files in the Archive folder to S3.

3) IT will initiate and monitor the transfer twice. The first transfer** is for copying the files into S3. The second transfer** is for ensuring all files have made it and that file integrity is in place.

4) After both transfers are complete, IT will delete** the files from the Archive folder (in Research Drive) to free up the space.

5) After the deletion is complete, IT will respond within the Job Board ticket and close it.

*By default everyone in a PI's lab group has permissions to read/write into the Archive and Retrieve folders. If you want to restrict this access please let us know.

**File transfer and deletion speeds vary based on how many files there are and how large they are.