Skip to content

Storage

Research Computing offers several data storage options to meet individual or shared needs of UAB researchers, depending on their requirement and use-cases. The types of storage available, procedures for requesting access, responsibilities, and usage guidelines are detailed in the following sections.

What Type of Storage Do I Need?

There are multiple locations for data storage both on and off Cheaha each with a specific purpose. You can look at the table below to help determine the storage platform we provide that best matches your needed use-case. If you need additional assistance, please contact Support.

Platform Long-term Storage User Data and Home Directories Project Directories User Scratch Local Scratch
Data Use-Case Data that rarely or never changes. Static data hosting. Acquired data pick-up repository. General-purpose data storage. Data to be shared among collaborator group and ready for analysis. Temporary files created during analysis. Rolling file deletion over time. Small files created during jobs. Must be deleted at the end of a job.
Default Quota Individual: 5 TB
Group: 75 TB		 5 TB 25 TB 100 TB Small
Owner Individual: per researcher
Group: Lab PI or Core Director		 Individual Researchers Lab PI or Core Director Individual Researchers Individual Researchers
Accessible From - Cheaha
- Globus		 - Cheaha
- Globus		 - Cheaha
- Globus		 Cheaha Cheaha
Cheaha Path No path; see LTS Interfaces. /home/<BlazerID> ($HOME) and /data/user/<BlazerID> ($USER_DATA) /data/project/<name> /scratch/<BlazerID> ($USER_SCRATCH) /local/$SLURM_JOB_ID
Read/Write (IO) Speed Slower Fast Fast Fast Fastest
Responsibilities & Procedures PI/Director responsible for data and access control. PI/Director responsible for data and access control. Data deleted after 30 days. Data deleted as needed.
Access Control Bucket policies Self only chmod and ACLs Self only Self only
How to Request Upon request. Comes with Cheaha account. Upon request. Comes with Cheaha account. Comes with Cheaha account.

What Individual Storage Solutions are Available?

Every Cheaha user has personal directories found at /home/$USER (or $HOME) and /data/user/$USER (or $USER_DATA), which are created automatically during account registration. In addition, individual allocations on Long-Term Storage (LTS) are also available upon request. Please read more about Long-Term Storage and User Data and Home Directories.

How Do I Request Individual Cheaha (GPFS) Storage?

An individual Cheaha (GPFS) storage is automatically created as part of the Cheaha account setup. No separate request is required.

How Do I Request Individual Long-Term Storage?

To request individual Long-Term Storage, please first read and understand how Long-Term Storage differs from traditional file systems, like GPFS on Cheaha. Decide if it is suitable for your needs. Then please feel free to contact Support.

What Shared Storage Solutions are Available?

Shared Storage is available via two services. We have Project Storage (located in /data/project or Cheaha) and Long-Term Storage (LTS). The two offerings are suited to different sets of use-cases and are available upon request, so please read on to determine which may be most suitable.

Project Storage is best-suited for changing or dynamic data. Specifically::

  • Data needing/undergoing analysis
  • Exploratory data
  • Temporary data needed longer than 30 days

In contrast, Long-Term Storage is best-suited for unchanging or static data. Specifically:

  • Instrument-acquired data
  • Completed analyses
  • Hosting data for others to copy
  • Hosting data for the public internet
  • "Pick-up" and "drop-off" locations for data as part of a workflow

Shared Storage is available for labs headed by a PI and for Core facilities headed by a director.

Shared Storage is allocated on a per-organization basis, not on a per-person basis. If an individual researcher manages both a lab and a Core, they may request independent storage allocations for each organization. Each organization may request both Project Storage and Long-Term Storage.

How Do I Request Shared Storage?

To request shared Project Storage or Long-Term Storage, please contact Support. To ensure prompt allocation of Shared Storage, please follow the guidelines below:

  • Requests must be made to support@listserv.uab.edu or via the AskIT HelpDesk.
  • Requests must come from one of the proposed owners (a Lab PI, a Research Core director, or both).
  • The role of Lab PI entitles a person to a project space for that lab.
  • The role of Research Core director entitles a person to a project space for that core. If one person has both roles, they may have two shared Storage spaces, one for each role.
  • All proposed owners must have created their Research Computing accounts at the time of the request.

Please provide the following information. Missing information can delay allocation of Shared Storage as we either look up the information, or ask followup questions.

  • Responsible Party/Owner: The BlazerID of the person claiming responsibility for what happens and what is stored in the space. Typically this would be a Principal Investigator (PI) or a Core Director.
    • Multiple responsible parties are allowed.
    • We need one person declared as "primary" owner. This person will be the literal owner (in the Linux sense) for Project Storage.
  • Members: A list of BlazerIDs of people to give access to the space. (Note: this only applies to Project Storage. LTS access controls are managed differently.)
  • Type of Organization: Is the Shared Storage request for a lab, core, campus administrative group, or something else?
  • Name of Organization: The specific name of the organization the Shared Storage request is for.
  • Parent Organization: The name of the parent organization for your organization. Please be as detailed as possible.
  • Purpose of Shared Storage: The research purpose for the storage, how do you intend to use it? Please feel free to be as detailed as you like, but please limit to a few sentences at most.
  • Internal UAB Collaborator Organizations: The name(s) of any other UAB organizations participating in the Shared Storage.
  • External Collaborator Organizations: The name(s) of any external organizations participating in the Shared Storage.
  • Regulatory Requirements: List any regulatory requirements or agencies affecting data to be stored in the space. Possibilities include, but are not limited to: IRB, EHR, HIPAA, PHI, FERPA.

  • Name of Shared Storage: Please give us a generic name specific to your project/Lab.

    • For Labs, we recommend using the format <BlazerID>_lab, where <BlazerID> is the BlazerID of the Principal Investigator (PI). Alternatively, the PI may choose to use their first or last name instead of the BlazerID.
    • For Cores, we recommend using a shortened version of the Core name. For example: core_facility_space
    • For Project Storage, the name you choose will be used in the path /data/project/<BlazerID>_lab on Cheaha. Also, this name,<BlazerID>_lab, will be given to your shared LTS allocation.

    Tip

    • Keep the name short, memorable, and relevant.
    • Use underscores (_) or hyphen (-) to separate words.
    • To serve future projects, consider names that are generic.

If some members have not created their accounts at the time of the request, we will proceed with allocating the Shared Storage. Additional members may be added at a later time in a new service request.

How Do I Make Changes to Shared Storage Membership?

To request changes in Shared Storage membership, please contact Support. Please take note of the following guidelines to ensure changes can be made promptly.

  • We must have written approval from an owner to make membership changes.
  • The exact name of the Shared Storage. If it is Project Storage, the path to the storage location, i.e., /data/project/....
  • Please give BlazerIDs of members to add or remove.

How Can I Get A Larger /data/project/ (GPFS) Allocation?

At this time, due to constraints on total GPFS storage, we are not able to increase /data/project/ allocations. Please consider batching your analyses by leveraging a combination of LTS to store raw and/or input data, and User Scratch for temporary storage of up to 100 TB of data for use during analysis.

If you wish to have further discussion of options for expanding your GPFS allocation and other workarounds tailored to your workflow, please Contact Support. Please also note that project storage is not just for a single project only, it is meant as a storage for multiple projects.

How Can I Get A Larger LTS Lab Allocation?

At this time, due to constraints on total LTS storage, increasing an LTS allocation requires purchasing additional hardware. Below are some facts about purchasing additional storage nodes.

  • Allocation increases occur by purchasing whole storage nodes.
  • Each node has 133 TB of usable storage.
  • Nodes are purchased with researcher funds at vendor cost.
  • No markups are added to the cost of nodes.
  • Purchased nodes are racked with existing hardware in our data centers.
  • Purchased nodes are maintained by Research Computing with the same level of service as other hardware.
  • Purchased nodes are supported for 5 years from date of purchase, the industry standard for commercial datacenter hardware.
  • Once an order is placed with the vendor, we can provide additional storage immediately if free storage is available, regardless of lead-time.

If you have additional questions or wish to discuss further, please Contact Support.

If I Can't Get a Larger Allocation, What Alternatives Are There?

One alternative we recommend is breaking your dataset into batches. A generic, template workflow might be something like below.

  • Copy a batch of data from LTS, or an internet source, to User Scratch.
  • Perform analyses on copied data in User Scratch.
  • Store intermediate or final results in /data/project/ or LTS.
  • Delete copied data from User Scratch.
  • Start again with the next batch.

When all batches have been processed, begin processing or aggregating the resulting data.

If you wish to discuss other alternatives tailored to your workflow, please Contact Support.

How can I effectively manage my data?

Keep files well-organized and clearly named, back up regularly, and archive or delete unused data.

What are my responsibilities for data management?

Periodically review permissions, clean up unused data, and follow institutional Storage and security policies.

Data Responsibilities and Procedures

Archival

Important

Archival of data is the responsibility of researchers using Cheaha.

At this time, Research Computing does not offer a method of archival. If you have need for archival, please feel free to contact Support to start a conversation.

A possible external resource for archival is available through University of Oklahoma (OU) Supercomputing Center for Education and Research (OSCER). Please see the following link for details: https://www.ou.edu/oscer/resources/ourrstore--ou---regional-research-store.

Backups

Important

Backups of data are the responsibility of researchers using Cheaha.

A good practice for backing up data is to use the 3-2-1 rule, as recommended by US-CERT:

  • 3: Keep 3 copies of important data. 1 primary copy for use, 2 backup copies.
  • 2: Store backup copies on 2 different media types to protect from media-specific hazards.
  • 1: Store 1 backup copy offsite, located geographically distant from the primary copy.

What hazards can cause data loss?

  • Accidental file deletion.
    • Example: mistakenly deleting the wrong files when using the shell command rm.
    • Files deleted with rm or any similar command can not be recovered by us under any circumstances.
    • Please restore from a backup.
  • Natural disasters.
    • Examples: tornado; hurricane.
    • All of our data sits in one geographical location at the UAB Technology Innovation Center (TIC).
    • Plans to add geographical data redundancy are being considered.
    • Please restore from an offsite backup.
  • Unusable backups.
    • Examples: backup software bug; media destroyed; natural disaster at offsite location.
    • Regularly test data restoration from all backups.

How can I ensure data integrity?

  • Regularly back up your (and your lab's) data in an offsite location.
  • S3 based long-term storage (LTS) can be used for short-term onsite backup.
  • Crashplan licenses are available for automatic offsite backups, please contact Support for more information.

HIPAA Compliance

Cheaha is HIPAA compliant and can accept Protected Health Information (PHI) data. Currently, long-term storage is NOT HIPAA compliant but will be in the future.

For UAB policies surrounding PHI data, please see the following URLs.

Important

It is the responsibility of researchers to make sure PHI is accessible only to people on the relevant IRB, with a demonstrated need to know. If PHI is stored in a project directory where some researchers are not on the IRB, their access to those files should be restricted using Access Control Lists (ACLs). Access control should be planned in advance of moving PHI data to Cheaha. If you need assistance setting up ACLs properly, please contact Support.

Managing PHI data can be challenging. There are experts on Campus who can provide assistance. Please contact Support if you intend to use Research Computing services in combination with PHI and PHI-derived data.