UniSA Research Data Storage Upgrade

To enable ISTS to continue providing a scalable and reliable storage resource for research, the physical infrastructure supporting the UniSA research data storage platform requires upgrading. This will affect research drives (R:), research group drives (G:), and HDR and postgraduate drives.

The migration process will move data from the existing shares to the new shares and will take a considerable time to complete.

This migration will take place from Friday 25 August 2023 5pm to Monday 28 August 2023 9am.

During this time, you will NOT be able to access your data.

The following information will ensure the cutover is as seamless as possible:

1. Please ensure all data is saved and closed before the data migration. At the time of the migration, you will lose access to the existing shares. If files are not closed, there is potential for data loss.
2. You will need to reboot the computer you are using and log back in to access the new location of the research share (this will be automatically mapped on blue plated devices). You may end up with multiple mapped drives if you have access to more than one research group storage location. The drives (G:\, H:\, I:\, etc.) each point to a different research group storage location.
3. After the migration, you should verify the content of the new share and ensure all content is complete. If you notice anything is amiss, please contact the IT Help Desk. You will only have 31 days for data to be restored from the old research share.
4. You will not be able to access the old share after data is transferred.
5. Old shortcuts to sub-folders will not work. Old shortcuts should be deleted, and new shortcuts created.
6. If you need to create shortcuts to sub-folders, please use UNC path names (i.e., \\groups.rsfs.unisa.edu.au\ or \\staff.rsfs.unisa.edu.au\ as per the table below) and NOT from the mapped drive letter (i.e. G:\).
7. Instructions to map network drives for Windows and Mac users can be found on the Storage Options AskIT page.
8. Please note that once the new share is in use it will take time for the “restore previous versions” to build up again as this data cannot be copied across to the new storage.

If you are accessing shares directly or need to remap your network drives or shortcuts, please note that the paths have changed as follows:

1. <userletter> denotes the first letter of your username, e.g., if your username is “smithj”, the <userletter> would represent the letter “s”.
2. <username> denotes your username, e.g., if your username is “smithj”, <username> would represent “smithj”.
3. <groupname> denotes the research group name, e.g., if the research group is “MyResearchProject”, <groupname> would represent “MyResearchProject”. 
   Please note there is a $ before the <groupname>, e.g. the full path would be “\\groups.rsfs.unisa.edu.au\$\MyResearchProject".
4. <ORG2> denotes the pre-AOT Division org code, which will be one of BUE, EAS, HSC, or IEE.

For further information please visit Data Storage Options at UniSA