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Data management
Data management

Data storage, backups, & security

Storage options

For storage and processing of your data during the active phase of research, there are several options available from the Office of Research Compute and Data. In addition, here are some others:

  • IS&T offers Athena lockers, which provide storage for DLCs and research labs as well as courses and UROP projects; there are storage quotas.
  • IS&T also offers Google drive and Dropbox accounts with 500 GB storage capacity to all MIT students, faculty and staff, and 100 GB to affiliates.
  • For groups that need to run their own servers, IS&T maintains managed servers and server co-location.

High-performance computing resources include:

Need help determining the right storage option for your group? IS&T’s Community Partnerships team and the Libraries’ Data Management Services can help! Contact Data Management Services to get started.

Back up your data

The rule(s) of three:

  • Hear, near, far: Make 3 copies (e.g. original + external/local + external/remote)
  • 3-2-1: 3 copies on at least 2 different media types, 1 copy should be geographically distributed (local vs. remote)

Government data

Governments collect, aggregate, and disseminate a large volume of information and data. This content is used by researchers, policymakers, and many others for various purposes. Data can potentially disappear because of government shutdowns, broken links, and policy shifts. See our checklist for steps you can take to ensure the government data you use in your research remains accessible to you and others.

Documentation

If you are backing data up to reuse it (secondary data) make sure to capture sufficient documentation so you can understand, effectively reuse, and give appropriate credit. Here’s a readME template for secondary data.

Data backup options

  • Personal computer hard drives, external hard drives, departmental or university servers
  • CDs or DVDs aren’t recommended, because they fail frequently
  • MIT’s IS&T has free computer backup services
  • Cloud storage: several commercial options are available; each have different requirements, encryption, and storage fees

Security

  • Unencrypted security is ideal for storing your data so that you and others can easily read it, but if encryption is required because of sensitive data:
    • Keep passwords and keys on paper (2 copies) and in a PGP (pretty good privacy) encrypted digital file.
    • Don’t rely on 3rd party encryption alone.
  • Uncompressed is also ideal for storage, but if you need to do so to conserve space limit compression to your 3rd backup copy.

To make sure your backup system is working properly, test your system periodically. Try to retrieve data files and make sure you can read them.

Need more help?

The UK Data Archive provides additional guidelines on data storage, backup, and security.