Storage Committees

Strategic Task Force on Storage

The Strategic Task Force on Storage had seven recommendations for storage on campus, which are listed below. For the full report, see Final Strategic Storage Task Committee Report.

  1. Improve usability of OIT Research Storage
    1. Usability improvements are multifaceted and include items such as: ease of access, ease of moving data into it, etc.
    2. Consider use of focus groups and coordinate with users already using research storage and new users to gather additional information and understanding
  2. OIT and College IT offices will work with the heaviest users of Google storage to optimize use.
    1. These people can help define and improve research storage (possibly form the focus group)
    2. This will be a good source of information for use cases that don’t clearly fall in the desired Google Storage or Research Storage services.
  3. Implement Google storage quotas for all faculty, staff and students by August 1, 2023.
    1. Initial quotas will not affect any user or account as we work through the process. Everybody will start where they are now with regards to storage usage
    2. Goal of at least a 30% buffer to make sure everybody can continue work unimpeded
    3. Allows us to “stop the growth” by having incoming accounts under a quota
  4. Develop a communications plan.
  5. Develop a long-term plan for the broader campus community to reduce its usage of Google storage and increase Research Storage.
  6. Make short-term purchases of storage from Google to support the implementation timeline.
  7. Develop a long-term storage strategy for NC State.

Storage Implementation Steering Team

Based on the Storage Task Force’s recommendation, the Implementation Steering Team is tasked with implementing the reduction of Google Storage use and improving Research Storage. The team’s goals include:

  • Initial quotas for faculty, staff and students will be rolled out by August 1 (Recommendation 3) and will not require any user to reduce their storage. This approach allows our campus to slow down our storage growth while we review what’s being stored in Google along with alternative solutions if necessary.
    • Over the next twelve to twenty-four months (Recommendations 2 and 5), IT staff and members of the Google Service Team will work together with users who have large storage needs and consider alternatives for storage locations.
  • No files in Google storage at NC State will be moved or deleted until the campus community has more information on storage options for large data users as well as a chance to review any files slated for deletion.