Storage and scientific computing
Description
UNIL's Central IT Services (Ci) provides users with infrastructures for data storage and scientific computing. These infrastructures are backed up daily, allowing data to be restored in the event of a problem. Depending on the nature of the data that needs to be stored (administrative or research data), two different servers are available.
Server access
Accessing storage infrastructures requires a UNIL IT account. To log in, please refer to the documentation below:
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OSX |
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The access authorisations are granted:
• By the FBM IT Service for the administrative data server
• By your group leader for the research data server (see documentation)
Administrative data storage
For the storage of administrative data (or “non-research” data), a central NAS server (nas.unil.ch\FBM) is available. This storage system is organised following a standardised tree structure for departments participating in the FBM IT management plan:
| Directories | Explanation |
| \FBM | This folder is the root folder and contains a folder for each department. |
| \DEPARTEMENT |
All departmental directories are exclusively accessible to members of the relevant department.The directory is named according to the official abbreviation of the department. For example: DNF, EM, DEC, etc. |
| \GROUPS | This directory contains group directories named according to the units' areas of activity (e.g., ADMINISTRATION; TEACHING, RESEARCH, etc.). It allows different unit members to collaborate easily on files and is accessible to all the members of a given department. |
| \ADMINISTRATION | This directory contains all the department's administrative folders (e.g., SECRETARIAT, MANAGEMENT, etc.). |
| \PI_ADMINISTRATION | This directory contains one folder per research group in the department for storing the group's administrative data. |
| \group_username | The name of this folder is a combination of the prefix “group” and the username of the PI (Principal Investigator). This directory allows members of the research group to collaborate and organise the laboratory's administrative data (e.g., laboratory protocols, lab meeting presentations, theses, posters, etc.). It can not contain scientific raw data. |
| \PI | A directory named “PI” within the “group_username” folder can be created upon request and restricted solely to the PI for the storage of sensitive administrative data (e.g., HR data, fund management, etc.). |
| \TEACHING | This directory contains the teaching data for the professors in the department. |
If you encounter any problems or require further information about the central NAS server for administrative data, please contact the FBM IT support.
Research data storage
General information
Data generated as part of a research project must be stored on the DCSR NAS server (\\nasdcsr.unil.ch\RESEARCH\). The creation of a project directory for a research group on this infrastructure is carried out at the request of the Principal Investigator (PI) only and is documented using a data management plan (DMP). Unlike the central NAS server (see above), research data is organised by project in departmental spaces and there are no individual folders for users:
| Directory | Explanation |
| \FAC or \PLTF | This directoy contains one folder per faculty or facility. |
| \FBM | This directory contains a folder for each department. |
| \DEPARTEMENT | The directory is named according to the official abbreviation of the department. For example: DNF, EM, DEC, etc. |
| \usernamePI | The department folders contain one folder per PI, named after the PI’s username. |
| \default | At the PI’s request, UNIL's IT Centre can create a ‘default’ project folder within the PI’s folder. This folder contains the PI’s draft research projects that have not yet been designated as fully-fledged research projects.
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| \D1C | This folder contains data from uncompleted projects that do not require a second copy (D1C = data 1 copy) as a backup set of this data exists on a system external to UNIL (e.g. data received from another university, etc.). If this data is lost on the UNIL server, users must be able to retrieve it from a system outside UNIL’s infrastructure. |
| \D2C | This directory contains data from unfinished projects that must be duplicated (D2C = data 2 copies) for security and data preservation purposes. Data produced as part of research at UNIL must be saved in this folder. |
| \projet1 | At the request of the PI, project directories are opened in the PI's folder by UNIL's Central IT Services in accordance withthe name chosen by the PI. Access to this folder is controlled by the PI. |
| \D1C | This directory contains data of project1 that does not require a second copy (D1C = data 1 copy) because a backup copy of this data exists on another system outside UNIL (e.g., data received from another university, etc.). If this data is lost on UNIL servers, users must be able to recover it from a system outside UNIL's infrastructure. |
| \D2C | This directory contains data of project1 that must be duplicated (D2C = data 2 copies) for security and data retention purposes. Data produced as part of research at UNIL must be saved in this folder. |
Sensitive data and personal data
If you need to process sensitive or personal data in your research projects, your hosting requests will be located respectively at:
- nasdcsr.unil.ch\RECHERCHE-S (Tresorit server)
- nasdcsr.unil.ch\RECHERCHE-P (Personal data server)
If you are unsure about which type of storage you should use or if you are looking for more information about existing solutions at UNIL, please refer to the documentation provided by UNIL's Central IT Services (Ci).
Request for research resources and pricing
As with the DCSR NAS server, access to high-performance computing infrastructure requires a prior request from the PI.
Research-related services (research data storage and scientific computing) are managed by UNIL's Central IT Services (Ci) and their use is billed to research groups (Directive 4.5 Research data processing and management).
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UNIL's Central IT Services price list (UNIL authenticated access)
Support and documentation
If you encounter any issues with the research infrastructure, please contact the High Performance Computing and Research Support Division directly.
You can also find useful documentation on the services available on the following pages: