Policy Statement
The purpose of the Network Data Storage policy is to provide guidelines and regulation governing the use of secure storage facilities and data backup equipment by the university community. Secure and reliable backup and storage procedures provide the university community with assurances that work-related data will be available and recoverable in the event of disk failure or file corruption.

Purpose
This policy will assure network data storage is used in an acceptable manner to maintain network availability and performance. OTIS is responsible for managing network storage which includes daily backups, securing access, monitoring department use, and reporting of usage patterns.  Access and use of network storage establishes an obligation on the part of the individual to use this resource responsibly. 

Responsibility
Network data storage is intended to facilitate secure document retention. It is not intended to archive large amounts of non-critical or personal data.  Files that are required for long-term storage may be preserved through Archival procedures described below.

Who Should Read This Policy
All faculty and staff with access to shared drives for use in collaborative work.

Guidelines
The following guidelines will ensure network storage is used efficiently and in a manner that will reduce waste and ensure fair access for all individuals. The intended purpose of the Shared Drive (T://) is for collaboration and internal office workflow.

The following data or information sources are acceptable:

•    Current working drafts of correspondence, reports, proposals, publications, that require collaboration and exchange of editorial assessment during the development of final documents between one or more authorized individuals.

o    Acceptable file types: word documents, spreadsheets, text documents

•    Final completed correspondence, reports, proposals, publications, that are complete and approved (represents documents that are in final form and to be used in business functional areas)

The following data is not to be stored on shared drives:

•    Personal, non work-related information of any kind

•    Internet downloads, html, unless converted to text and required for collaboration and creation of documents related to business functions.

•    High-resolution images of final publication quality (documents containing high resolution images should be stored with image placeholders but not with the images themselves).

•    Video Files

•    Audio Files

•    Excessive iterations (duplicates) of the same document

Contact OTIS for assistance in moving these file types to alternative storage media – internal hard drive, external hard drive, flash drive, disc, etc.

File Management Best Practices Guidelines
Individuals and departments with access to shared drives should employ the following management practices:

•    Delete old, duplicate and unnecessary files at every 30 days at the most

•    Move personal files (non-UArts related) from the T: drive to your hard drive (C:/)

•    Do not save executable (.exe) files onto the T:\ drive.

•    Do not store movies, music or images on the shared drive. For files of this type required for university purposes contact OTIS for alternative storage methods.

Archival Process
Files that are required to be maintained for historic or archival use may be stored in an Archive Folder made available to each Department on their shared drive space. This folder will be made available routinely for the purposes of moving archival materials from other folders to the Archive Folder (at least once per semester). The folder will be moved to a backup tape and preserved both on-site and off-site. Advanced notice will be required to retrieve a specific document form the Archive Folder.

Compliance
Failure to comply with the necessary guidelines may result in the use of Disk Quotas.  Disk Quotas will restrict the amount of space any one department can use.  Quotas are implemented to allow fair sharing of resources and reduce the possibility of one department using a larger portion of the resource.  OTIS will take the necessary action to protect the stability and performance of its services for all individuals.

OTIS Policy Adopted August 14, 2008.