The McClay Research Data Storage (RDS) service provides researchers with an area to store their data during the course of a research project. It is the names of the QUB Research Data Store.
This is data that will be subject to regular change, accessed by multiple users, and in a ‘raw’ format.
This data is distinct from the final datasets that you might publish through an online repository in order to comply with open data policies.
Your ‘active’ data space will be closed once your research project is finished and you will decide which data to publish, archive, or discard.
However, even at the ‘active’ or ‘raw’ stage, it is important that your data is well structured and organised.
The McClay Research Data Storage (RDS) Service is run by High Performance Computing (HPC.)
It is important that you store the data generated during a research project in a safe, secure location. This is explicitly required by funders. You must also ensure multiple copies of your data are retained in case of data loss. You should not store master copies of your data in removable mediums such as your laptop hard drive, USB sticks or external hard drives. These are prone to damage, corruption and data loss. You may also expect to generate large volumes of data which cannot be stored efficiently on removable mediums or through your standard ‘Q’ drive allocation.
The McClay RDS service addresses these issues by providing a secure location to store your data, with a safe second copy retained at a separate physical location.
When planning for and conducting research, there are a number of storage and security issues which researchers need to consider. The University has clear policies and guidelines on protecting your information and data – please familiarise yourself with these.
McClayRDS is the name of the QUB Research Data Store.
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Physical security: Physically the data is stored in secure server rooms. Access is restricted to a specific set of individuals and video surveillance is in operation.
Accessing the service off campus: The active space may be accessed remotely using the Kelvin VPN service. All users must have an account in the University’s Active Directory service.