FAQs

User filestore service frequently asked questions (FAQs)

A yellow file folder 

 Please see http://www.bris.ac.uk/it-services/applications/filestore/ for further information.  

 

 

 

How do I recover lost or older versions of my files & work?

We keep at least 7 days worth of backups that you can access and restore yourself.  There are several different backup points for each day.    If you want to recover or restore previous versions of your files please see the instructions at :  http://www.bris.ac.uk/it-services/applications/filestore/recovery.html

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Who can use it?

All members of the University: accounts are created automatically at the same time as a user's UOB domain account. Users with temporary and/or guest accounts will not normally be allocated space.

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Where can I use it?

You should normally expect the o: drive to be connected automatically at logon if you are using a networked Windows computer in the University.  Staff and Students share the same drive letter for their central folder, although the space available varies.  You should also expect to see your o: drive on the Student and Staff Remote Desktop services.

 

If the drive is not available at logon, you can locate your folder in the appropriate folder (staff or student) by browsing with Windows Explorer to look at  \\ads.bris.ac.uk\filestore\myfiles\ 

If you are a student manually mapping a drive letter then your path would look like \\ads.bris.ac.uk\filestore\myfiles\students\username

If you are a member of staff manually mapping a drive letter then your path would look like \\ads.bris.ac.uk\filestore\myfiles\staff\username

Apple users within the University can also connect to the filestore using SMB - please see the instructions below.

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How much space do I have?

The initial allocation is at least 50GB (around 50000MB) for Students,  50GB for Support Staff and at least 60GB for Academic Staff.  

These limits are reviewed each academic year and may be increased automatically as appropriate. We do not enforce completely  “hard quotas”, so in some circumstances users will be able to temporarily exceed these limits to meet their short term needs – however, we reserve the right to notify and request users reduce their personal storage to our defined levels.

 

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Can I get an increase in my space allowance?

If you require additional filespace for a genuine academic reasons, we will consider your request. However, large files may be more suitable for storage on Departmental Systems.  Please contact the IT Service Desk in the first instance.

 

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Can I have shared filespace, for doing team-based project work?

We are not able to provide such a facility for each individual or student group in the University due to the administrative overhead it would entail. For academic coursework, we would expect that shared space would be provided by your department on the Departmental Storage System.  You can of course email, IM or Fluff files to other University users.   It is possible to use Office Communicator to quickly share and move files between users.

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What happens when I graduate/ leave the University?

Any data stored will be deleted at the same time as a user's other computer accounts and their email address. Users are notified by email in advance of this. It is the user's responsibility to ensure they have made copies of any files they wish to keep before they leave the University.

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Can I access my space from home?

You can access your space only if you are connected to the University's network.  Otherwise, you should connect via our Remote Desktop Services,  UoB VPN service or the Residential Network Service ("ResNet"). Please see the next two questions for details of how to connect via these services.

In addition you can access your folder via the University portal, MyBristol.  A channel called My Documents (O Drive), situated on the File & Print tab, will allow you to download documents for use anywhere over the web.  However, at this time, you cannot  upload amended documents back into the filestore via the portal. Note: the Portal Channel may be temporarily unavailable as we transition from the old CUFS service to the new larger MyFiles provision.

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How do I access my space using the UoB VPN/ Hotspot service?

Bristol staff and students should be able to access their file stores using the eduroam wireless service.     Under Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7: you can map a network drive to \\ads.bris.ac.uk\filestore\myfiles\students\yourusername and specify that you need to connect as UOB\username (replace username with your own username). Other versions of Windows should also work, but are not supported by Information Services.

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Can I access my space using an old (pre Lion) Mac?

The filespace is only available via Microsoft Networking protocols (SMB/CIFS file sharing).  Mac users who do not have OSX Lion can connect by doing the following:

Click "Go:" on the toolbar and choose "Connect to Server"

Enter the path for the filestore you want to access:   

 smb://myfiles.isys.bris.ac.uk/StudentFilestore/<yourUOBusername>  (Students) 

 or

smb://stafffiles.isys.bris.ac.uk/myfiles/<yourUOBusername> (Staff).  Users of OSX 10.6.8 may need to do this to ensure they get a connection.

apple SMB connection window

You will be prompted for your credentials.  Enter these in the format   UOBusername@ads.bris.ac.uk

or, that does not appear to work please try entering in the format:  UOB\username

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How do I save my work?

Drive O: should be automatically mapped to your personal space. A "save" dialog box will look something like this:

Screenshot: Save As dialog box
Screenshot: Save As dialog box

The important part is the line that reads:
ads.bris.ac.uk\filestore\myfiles\students (O:)
This refers to your space on the main filestore.  Your space will show your UoB username.

You can also find the O: drive in "My Computer" on most University Windows PCs. 

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My department provides me with file space already. Does this replace it?

Possibly; we expect many departments to transition your files to this central service for your own files; but at present this centrally provided storage is in addition to any facilities provided by your department. Some departments, principally in Engineering and Science, provide other networked filestore for their users. However, you may find that this is not accessible across the University - the O: drive should generally be available from all systems/anywhere.

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How do I tell how much space I have used/ have available?

Probably the easiest way is to double-click on "My Computer" (normally at the top left of the screen), right-click on the icon for drive o: and select Properties from the drop-down menu.  You will be automatically emailed if you are approaching your storage limit.

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How much does it cost?

There is no charge for this service. All University students receive central filespace.

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Are my files secure?

In terms of accessibility, your files are accessible only to you, unless you explicitly give access to others.

In terms of security against loss of data, there are multiple dedicated disk array servers using RAID 60 or better disk array, with spare disks.  Data is replicated site to site between the Computer Centre and other buildings to maximise our data resiliency.    We take regular recovery snapshots of all the data we hold and you are able to find and recover previous versions of your files yourself.

 

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Are my files scanned for viruses?

All PCs from which this service is accessed should have anti-virus software installed, so in theory a virus should never make it as far as the server. Nevertheless, the server is scanned for viruses on a daily and on access basis. Users local IT support teams are automatically notified by email of any action performed on user files as a part of the disinfection process.

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Is my filespace available 24 hours a day?

As with other central network services, our intention is to run a 24 hour a day, seven day a week service. There will be maintenance periods, where the system may be temporarily removed from service, after an extended period of notice and normally during the Summer Vacation, for hardware and software upgrades. In the event of a hardware problem you may experience short outages (up to 5 minutes) whilst the system fails over between sites. 

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Why drive O: What's happened to K: (2010)?

Although the drive letter is different, your work from the old K: drive will have been transferred to the new system. When the first 'CUFS' service was originally set up (with 50MB per user), we decided that the best way to avoid user confusion was to ensure that the same drive letter was used in every computer room. Since most computer rooms are not managed by us, we had to ask everyone what drive letters they were already using, so we could use one that was available everywhere. This turned out to be -- "none of them"! Drive K: was used by the smallest number of people, so we asked the Arts and Social Sciences Faculty Computer Team and the Library Systems Team nicely, and they let us use it.    Since IT departments have become part of a single IT Services organisation, we've worked hard to give you more space (5GB) and make all storage for staff and students consistent.   Thus, students and staff now both use O: for their personal folders and CUFS was retired.

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How to map a network drive (Windows)

  1. Click on the Start menu and choose My Computer.
  2. Click the Tools menu and choose Map Network Drive.
  3. Choose a drive letter - we suggest drive O
  4. In the folder box, type \\ads.bris.ac.uk\filestore\myfiles\
  5. Click Connect using a different user name
  6. In the username box, type UOB\ab1234
  7. In the password box type your standard UOB password. Click OK.
  8. Click Finish.

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I have a question not on the list above

Please contact the IT Service Desk.

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