Before deciding on a cloud storage option, please review the documentation provided by Div. IT regarding appropriate storage of sensitive data.

In any case, please speak with an administrator for clarification of any of the options below. We will be able to assist you in making the best decision for your group.

• On-Site Network Storage - We offer two options for on-site network drive storage which are available to all groups. Both of these are Windows file servers and should be used where file locking, many changes to many files, and integrated authentication are desired. Central authentication and maintenance by IT Operations allows for easy changes to group membership and access.

• Secured File Server - This file server is behind both a network and host-based firewall. Storage on this requires that you are on one of our secured networks or that you are running the GlobalProtect VPN to access the file server. Authentication is handled through the campus Active Directory system, which uses directory ID and password. 

• Standard File Server - This file server has a simple host-based firewall. This is accessible from anywhere on campus with authentication. Authentication is handled through the campus Active Directory system, which uses directory ID and password. Our recommendation: Research groups and professors should use this if the lab configuration is done using Choices 2 or 3 on the Support Options document OR if the group is forced to be in a mixed configuration. Staff members may not use this file server.

• Google Drive - This option is available to all of our customers. Google Drive is part of everyone's Google account and creating, sharing, and editing files is in the hands of our customers. This is the type of storage that would be recommended for one-on-one sharing or personal backup of files.

• Google Shared (formerly Team) Drives - This option is great for collaboration among a group of individuals who want to share everything in their research with each other. Storage is unlimited in terms of amount of data, but may be limited in the number of files allowed. Use Team/Shared Drive with a lab group that is highly collaborative. Add the use of Google Drive File Stream to make this a more seamless working environment on a desktop PC. 

• Box.com - This offers the same style of management as Google Drive, but is available both for individuals and groups by contacting the department. Individual and group accounts allow for unlimited storage. Campus authentication is provided.

• Glue/TerpConnect AFS storage - This is file storage that is available to anyone on campus who has a Glue/TerpConnect account. Glue/TerpConnect accounts can be configured at it.umd.edu/new and user account storage is provided automatically. Groups can request additional space from the department. Use the Glue/TerpConnect AFS storage if you are primarily using the Glue/TerpConnect system and/or have a mixture of Glue/TerpConnect and other workstations in your lab.
  
  
• Isilon UMD Networked Storage Services - The Division of Information Technology (DIT) at UMD offers a service to the campus research, academic and administrative community to provide unstructured data storage at a competitive cost. The Networked Storage Service (NSS) is a networked storage solution hosted by EMC's Isilon NAS storage arrays. EMC Isilon has been a leading provider of highly redundant and ultra-scalable data storage to many research institutions and universities.

In addition to using these services individually, there are ways to make some of them automatically connect when you log into UMD computers. Please see our article on Kumo for further information.