Fileserver Standard

The aim of centralising management of all corporate data within the University of Tasmania is to provide an environment where a user can log onto any workstation in the University, whether it be in Hobart, Burnie or Launceston, and have full access to all their usual data including email. This makes it easier for people who change locations and additionally makes it simpler to upgrade and replace desktop computers without interrupting normal work.

Implementation of remotely mapped file server volumes in selected departments is the first stage in this process. The intention is to move all data of value off workstations and onto central file servers to ensure greater accessibility, organisation and reliability of backup.

This document outlines how these volumes are to be accessed and used by all staff in the University. It also makes suggestions regarding the wider issues of version control, naming conventions and archiving.

Definitions

Remotely mapped file server volume: This is an automatic connection of client workstations to a specific shared volume on a server to a specific drive letter. Hence N drive will become a standard file location for all users within a department or school. N drive will appear identically on all machines, however different users may have different access rights to areas within N drive.

Standard drive letters: Currently these are N: (Network drive), P: (Personal drive) and R: (Resource drive).

Logon script: This appears as a black window at startup which runs a script which makes all the necessary network connections. It may also at times require user entry of information, typically a password.

Accessing the Drives

Many people have been in the habit of saving data to their Desktop, or to their D drive. In future these areas should be reserved only for “draft” or non-essential work. They will not be backed up, although in the interim, backup is still provided to D: drive. Important data should never be saved to the desktop as this is too easily overwritten and is not usually backed up.

Available drive letters will be displayed inside “My Computer”, or, for the more sophisticated user, in Windows NT Explorer (you can access Windows NT Explorer by right clicking on “My Computer” and selecting “explore” from the drop down menu).

New Usage of Drives

C:\ Drive	Local hard disk. Reserved for operating system and standard application installations (eg MS Office). Not backed up and no data should be stored here.
D:\ Drive	Local hard disk. Available space for users to store non-essential data and applications. Has been traditional data store but will not be backed up in the future. Do not store data here that you cannot afford to lose. Such data should be moved to P:\ drive or your group area on N:\ drive.
N:\ Drive	Network disk. (N for Network) For storage of all essential corporate data. Organised into sub-directories or folders according to groups within each department or school. Most people will only be able to write to one main area within N:\ drive, however they may be able to read other areas. These permissions are set by the Desktop Management Services and they should be approached to vary these permissions (eg to allow access to a new area).
P:\ Drive	Network disk. (P for Personal) For storage of important personal data or data which is private or highly sensitive. This drive effectively replaces D drive – it is unique to each user.
R:\ Drive	Network disk (R for Resource). This is an ITS managed volume containing software installations and resources, primarily for maintenance by support staff. Most users will have limited access to this area, and the aim is that this volume be universal to all University staff.
U:\ Drive	Network disk (U for Universal). This is a "top level" view of all N:\ drives. For example in "Department A" the N:\ Drive corresponds to U:\Department_A\ Some users may need to also access data from the N:\ drive of "Department B" - to do this they go via U:\Department_B. Security is implemented such that people still only access areas to which they are entitled. The aim is that this volume be universal to all University staff and thus provide a consistency of access across all areas.

Data Management

Each group is responsible for maintenance and version control within their own sub folder of N:\ drive. This gives all users the ability to share documents and information without needing to email the documents, access a particular workstation etc. It also means that it is possible to refer to a specific document in absolute terms – for example, a document could be referred to as being "example.doc", or, more usefully, as "N:\Admin\2001\example.doc" which tells others immediately where the document could be located from anywhere in that department or school.

Personal data should be stored on the P:\ drive where it is of value. Draft work and personal applications (eg screensavers) should remain on D:\ drive as central resources, while large, are expensive and limited. There will be a maximum size allocation for P:\ drives, although as more server space becomes available this will be revised upwards.

Archiving of Data

Periodically it will be necessary to archive old data stored on the file server. This should be managed centrally by the University of Tasmania, and can be facilitated by grouping data by year, as well as implementing other forms of version control. All data is archived to tape each month, with incremental backups each night. Old data can be recovered to the server from tape at any time up to two years after being removed from the server if requested.

As data gets older and is rarely used it is worth using utilities like WinZIP to compress and archive the older data while retaining it on the file server. This can be done as a preliminary to actually removing the data entirely.

Conclusion

The central data stores described in this document are intended to make working with and sharing of data within the University of Tasmania easier and more reliable for all staff. The additional flexibility will allow users to move locations and machines without interruption to workflow. This will eventually include all user data including email.