Storage and scientific computing
Description
The UNIL IT Central Services (Ci) provides users with infrastructures for data storage and scientific computing. These infrastructure are backed up daily, allowing data to be restored in the event of a problem. Depending on the nature of the data to be stored (administrative or research data), two servers are available.
Server access access
Access to storage infrastructures requires an UNIL IT account. To log in, please refer to the documentation below:
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OSX |
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The access authorizations are given:
By the FBM IT Service : administrative data
By your group leader: research data (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 organized according to a standardized 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 only accessible to members of the department concerned. 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 members of a given department. |
| \ADMINISTRATION | This directory contains all of the department's administrative folder (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 consists of the prefix “group” and the username of the PI (Principal Investigator). It is a directory that allows members of the research group to collaborate and organize the laboratory's administrative data (e.g., laboratory protocols, lab meeting presentations, theses, posters, etc.). |
| \PI | In the “group_username” folder, upon request, a directory named “PI” can be created 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 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 organized by project in departmental spaces and there are no individual folders for users:
| Directory | Explanation |
| \FAC or \ |
This directoy contains one folder per faculty or facility. |
| \FBM | This directory contains a folder for each department. |
| \DEPARTEMENT | Les dossiers des départements sont nommés en fonction de l'abréviation officielle du département. Par exemple : DSB, DBC, DNF, etc. |
| \usernamePI | Department directories are named according to the official abbreviation of the department. For example: DSB, DBC, DNF, etc. |
| \default | Sur demande du PI, un répertoire de projet “default” est ouvert dans le dossier du PI par le Centre informatique de l'UNIL. Ce dossier contient les ébauches de projets de recherche du PI qui ne sont pas encore identifiés comme projet de recherche à part entière. |
| \D1C | At the request of the PI, a “default” project directory is opened in the PI's folder by the UNIL Central IT Services. This folder contains draft research projects by the PI that have not yet been identified as full-fledged research projects. |
| \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 the UNIL Central IT Services according to the name chosen by the PI. Access to this folder is limited to the project team defined by the PI within his or her research group. |
| \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 the UNIL server, 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 the type of storage to use or if you are looking for more information about existing solutions at UNIL, please refer to the documentation provided by the UNIL Central 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 the UNIL 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 Central IT Services price list (
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: