Storage Options

Explore the different storage options available to College of Science and Engineering - Twin Cities students, instructors, and staff for working on projects, research, or coursework.

Important: It is recommended that anyone working on time sensitive projects (such as students working on course assignments) also save backups or copies of the project to Google Drive. 

Storage options:

Storage for Managed Linux Computers

All Linux storage backups are retained for up to 28 days. To recover a file from backup see Requesting a File Recovery From Backup.

    Home Directory

    • Availability: Current students, instructors, and staff with the creation of a CSE Labs Account
    • Use for:
      • Small files and documents such as 1000 level course assignments
      • System configuration files such as dot-files and ssh keys. The default location for required folders like Downloads and the Desktop
    • How to access: Your Home Directory is the default location when opening the file manager
    • Storage size: 5 GB
    • Storage increases: Not available
    • Backed Up: Yes
    • Caution: After 1 year of inactivity or upon a person leaving the University, accounts and home directories are purged.

    Project Space

    • Availability: By request only
    • Use for:
      • Projects
      • Longer term storage
      • Larger files
    • How to access: Instructions on accessing project spaces are provided upon creation of the space
      • Access requests to existing project space must be approved by the project space owner
    • Storage size: up to 1 TB
    • Storage increases: Requests for project storage space larger than 1 TB in size may require a consultation, approval from CSE-IT and/or OIT, and an EFS string
    • Backed Up: Yes

    Scratch Space

    • Availability: On every CSE Linux computer. Not available in VOLE.
    • Use for:
      • Temporary workspace for larger files
      • A workspace, not a storage space
      • Important: Always copy your work to somewhere else
    • How to access: Navigate to the /export/scratch/ directory when signed into a CSE Linux computer
      • Scratch spaces are computer specific and do not sync if you switch computers
    • Storage size: Varied. The scratch space size is determined by the amount of free hard disk space on the computer
    • Backed up: No
    • Caution: Do not put important or time sensitive projects only in scratch space. Scratch spaces are not backed up and do not sync between computers. Always save copies of the project to Google Drive, an external hard drive or a flash drive.  

    Xtra Space

    • Availability: Current students, instructors, and staff with the creation of a CSE Labs Account
    • Use for:
      • General storage for University work and coursework
      • Larger files
    • How to access: Navigate to the /xtra/<your_InternetID>/ directory when signed into a CSE Linux computer
    • Storage size: 10 GB
    • Storage increases: By request, up to 250 GB
    • Backed up: Yes
    • Caution: After 1 year of inactivity or upon a person leaving the University, accounts and xtra spaces are purged.

    Requesting a File Recovery From Backup

    To request a file be recovered from a backup, contact CSE-IT with the following information:

    • Your InternetID
    • File name
    • Full path to file
    • Approximate date to restore the backup from

    Storage for Windows, Mac, and Self-Managed Linux Computers

    Google Drive

    Google Drive is the recommended storage solution for Windows, Mac, and Self-managed Linux computers. With Google Drive, you can create and share files and folders online and collaborate with others on group projects. Files in Google Drive can be accessed from any smartphone, tablet, or computer.

    Getting Started

    Network Drives

    If you have access to a network drive, you can map it to a Windows, Mac, and Self-managed Linux computer. Your department will let you know if it has a network drive. Learn how to map a network drive.