The University has a duty to ensure that staff are made aware of how to handle information produced, managed and stored within its computer system. In order to achieve this staff must be aware of the importance and sensitivity of the information they produce and manage inside the University computer systems and how it must be handled. This is set out in section 6 of the University’s Information Classification Policy.
Please find below some guidance on data storage within UDS:
Personal Storage (H:)
When you University user id is enabled for UDS, this will create a 2GB centralised Filestore area. You will find this under My Computer: (H:) username(\\files). This area is available to storage information that is pertinent to you. In this location you are able to store documents and other files that assist you in your daily work. These files can contain information that is specific to you and your work that you may not wish to share with other staff members. Things like intellectual property, any work your working on in isolation or in draft and personal development plans are good examples of information relevant to you.
This information is only accessible to you as a result of a series of secure controls in the University’s computer system. This information is backed up and can be restored by ITS should it become deleted or corrupted. Information you store in your H: drive can be accessed, by you, when you log onto any UDS based computer anywhere in the University. Types of information under the Information Classification policy that can be stored here are Public, Open, Confidential and Strictly Confidential.
Department Storage (S:) You will see this written as departmentname\\files
You are also likely to have access to a departmental Filestore area, often your (S:) departmentalname(\\files) drive but this may not be the case in all areas, or you may have access to more than one departmental shared area. The departmental shared drive is a location on the network where information relating to your department can be stored and manipulated by any member of the team you work with. This provides the facility for you and your team to work collaboratively on the same work and information.
Again, in this location you are able to store documents and other files that assist you and the team you work with as part of your daily work. These files can contain information that is specific to the departmental activities such as documents relating to annual leave, business processes, projects, policies and procedures. It may also contain sensitive information relating to staff and students. As with your personal drive you can access your departmental shared drive from any UDS machine in the University and it’s backed up centrally so if information is deleted accidentally or it becomes corrupt it can be restored. Types of information under the Information Classification policy that can be stored here are Public, Open and Confidential (as long as others in your department should have access to it).
Local Computer Storage
This is storage that sits inside the computer on your desk and is denoted as drive C: and in some cases drive D: Whilst it can be accessed by you caution should be used when storing information here as it can also be accessed by anyone else that uses the computer. That means that any information you store locally on your computer can be accessed by anyone who logs into it.
The use of the C: and D: drive to store information also means that it is not backed up in anyway and is subject to loss or corruption with no method of restore or recovery in almost all cases.
Types of information under the Information Classification policy that should be stored here are Public and Open only.