Data Den Research Archive is a service for preserving electronic data generated from research activities. It is a low-cost, highly durable storage system and is the largest storage system operated by ARC. Storing of sensitive data (including HIPAA and FERPA) is now supported (visit the Sensitive Data Guide for full details). This service is part of the U-M Research Computing Package (UMRCP) that provides storage allocations to researchers. Most researchers will not have to pay for Data Den.
A disk-caching, tape-backed archive, this storage service is best for data that researchers do not need regularly, but still need to keep because of grant requirements.
“Data Den is a good place to keep research data past the life of the grant,” said Jeremy Hallum, ARC research computing manager. “ARC can store data that researchers need to keep for five to ten years.”
Hallum goes on to say that Data Den is only available in a replicated format. “Volumes of data are duplicated between servers or clusters for disaster recovery so research data is very safe.”
Data Den can be part of a well-organized data management plan providing international data sharing, encryption, and data durability. Jerome Kinlaw, ARC research storage lead, said that the Globus File Transfer service works well for data management. “Globus is easy to use for moving data in and out of Data Den.”
The ITS U-M Research Computing Package (UMRCP) provides 100 terabytes (TB) of Data Den storage to qualified researchers. This 100 TB can be divided between restricted and non-restricted variants of Data Den for use as needed. (The ITS Data Storage Finder can help researchers find the right storage solutions to meet their needs.)
“I’m pleased that Data Den now offers options for sensitive data, and that researchers can take advantage of the UMRCP allocations,” said Brock Palen, ARC director. “We want to lighten the load so that researchers can do what they do best, and our services are now more cost effective than ever.”
