Purdue University

ITaP Research Computing recently announced that new purchases of space in the Data Depot research data storage service will be at a rate of $75 per terabyte per year, half the previous cost of $150.

While the initial $150 per terabyte fee was very competitive when the system was introduced in 2014, data storage costs continue to decrease. ITaP lowered the price with the goal of ensuring that Data Depot remains a cost-competitive option for actively used research data, says Preston Smith, ITaP’s director of research services and support.

Data Depot is available to any Purdue researcher in need of reliable, secure high-capacity central solution for storing large, active research data sets. Researchers do not need to be participants in Purdue’s Community Cluster Program to buy space in Data Depot. Research groups are eligible for a 100 GB Data Depot trial space free of charge to see if the service will work for their needs.

Data Depot is integrated with Globus, allowing for fast and easy unattended transfer of large amounts of data between local researchers and colleagues elsewhere or to and from national labs, and is designed to facilitate joint work on shared files. Additionally, each Data Depot partner is provided with tools to self-manage groups and grant and remove access to the lab’s space.

All data is actively mirrored at two separate data center sites on campus to ensure rapid access, reliability and recoverability to an extent not possible with other research data storage methods.

To learn more about Data Depot and other Research Computing services, contact Smith, psmith@purdue.edu or 49-49729.