NAS Data Storage Service - overview

Requesting NAS storage

Requests to setup NAS data storage can be made by registered Trinity staff via the NAS data storage request form. Consultancy with the requester to determine initial requirements will be provided where required.

Who can connect

NAS storage can be accessed by registered Trinity staff and students. During the request process you will be asked to provide the approximate number of staff, postgraduates, and undergraduates who will require access to the NAS. It is not possible to provide access to non-Trinity users.

Where you can connect from

NAS storage can be accessed only by registered Trinity staff and students and only from the Trinity 'wired' network in offices and labs, from the staff wireless network and from the student networks and via the VPN service for staff.

Supported operating systems

The following operating system versions are supported:

Windows

• Windows 11 Pro/Education - See supported versions
• Windows 10 Pro/Education - See supported versions

macOS

• macOS Ventura (13.x) or later - See supported versions

Other

• Linux

Service options

When requesting Network Attached Storage you will need to specify the length of time required, the storage space requirements, and data backup and recovery options.

The cost of service will be calculated on the basis of your selections.

Length of time

You can choose to have the storage setup for between 1 and 5 years, with the option to request an extension of the time as you approach the end of the initial period.

Storage space requirements

You can select data storage size between 50GB and 3000GB (3TB). Requests for larger storage space requirements will be discussed with the requester.

Data backup and recovery options

You can opt for IT Services to include your storage in a scheduled weekly or daily backup for an additional cost. If you are using this service to store your own data backups, then it is likely you will not require this further backup option.

If you select a data backup option, you are entitled to 5 recovery requests within a 5-year period, with further data recovery requests incurring an additional cost. Data recovery requests will be processed within 3-5 days.

The backups for the previous 21-day period are retained. In the case of a weekly backup, there is one backup taken every 7 days  (3 backups in 21 days)  meaning data may be retrieved from the last full backup, as opposed to the daily backup option (Mon to Fri) which provides recovery from the previous nights backup. For both types of backup you can recover data which is 3 weeks old.

Backups are held on campus for the first week, and then moved to an off-site location.

Costs

The precise costs differ depending on the amount of storage space required, how long it is required for and which data backup and recovery option is selected. A full quote is provided after submitting a request, based on the options selected on the request form which is available further below. Please note that pricing is subject to change with alterations in the back-end infrastructure. Please read NAS Terms and Conditions for more details. Below are some sample costs:

• Costs for 100GB storage with daily backup for 5 years is €1,064
• Costs for 1000GB (1TB ) storage with daily backup for 5 years is €6,652

Your responsibilities, terms & conditions

Users of the NAS data storage service must adhere to all Trinity Policies, including IT Services Policies and the Good Research Practice Policy.

Please visit the NAS Terms and Conditions for more detail.

Additionally, please note the following:

Technical contacts

The requester will be required to nominate an additional technical contact for the storage. The requester and this additional contact will be responsible for all requests to the IT Service Desk relating to this storage. Problems and change requests must be reported to the IT Service Desk by the nominated local administrator/technical contact.

Data security

This service does not include encryption or auditing and is not suitable for storage of the types of information described below. IT Services will not accept responsibility for any breach of security of data of the types above which are unsuitable for storage on the NAS storage for the following types of data:

• Large sets of detailed student or staff personnel records, the loss of which could expose individuals to identity theft. This data should be stored in the appropriate staff or student information system.
• Individually identifiable health information. This includes information relating to past, present, or future conditions, or the provision of health care.
• Financial data which if intercepted could result in financial loss to an individual or institution e.g. payment card data, bank account numbers
• Usernames and passwords which provide access to other Trinity IT systems
• Biometric identification data

Further information on Data classification can be found at our Data Classification page

Setting permissions and creating subfolders.

Users requiring access will be assigned to an Active Directory (AD) group to facilitate assignment of permissions. IT Services will setup the AD Group and assignment of initial share permissions for relevant access for the group. The administrators/technical contacts will be asked to provide a list of users that will be added to the group. The administrators will specify if the group should have read or read and write access. Only the administrators can request new users to be added to the group by forwarding a request to ITServices.

The nominated local administrators/technical contacts will be responsible for the creation and modification of subfolders within the main storage folder, and setting any required permissions on these subfolders, if the permissions are different to those set on the main folder.

The administrators can overwrite any pre-set permissions using instructions provided on the Managing File Access page. Setting permissions works only from Windows PCs.

Expiry or Termination of service

Expiry of current period of subscription

If no contact has been made after the agreed period of subscription, IT Services will assume the service is still required.  As costs for the underlying infrastructure may have changed, the relevant department will be notified of any changes to billing at the time of invoicing.

Termination of service

When the service is no longer required then notification of requirement to terminate the agreement should be requested through the IT Service Desk by the nominated local administrator or technical contact. Data can be migrated from the storage to other media at the request of the nominated local administrator or technical contact.

It is the responsibility of the nominated local administrator and technical contact to transfer the data to their own media if they wish to retain a copy locally e.g. on their own machine. The requester has 3 weeks from the date of notification to copy the data before IT Services delete the data as data will be deleted by IT Services 3 weeks from the date the requester notifies IT Services that the agreement is to be terminated. It will not be possible to refund the charges should the service be terminated early.

How to Raise a FIS PO for NAS Storage

Please follow the below instructions for raising a purchase order in FIS:

• Click on Main Store from the drop-down search box
• Type in TCD ITS next to the drop-down and select Go
• Add the Amount and select Add to Cart
• If payment is via a journal, please credit the account with code 10-2705-9030474-1113-22550
  
  
  
  

Getting help

If assistance is required with the NAS storage service then the query should be first brought to the attention of the nominated local administrators/technical contacts. If further help or consultancy is required then the query should be logged by the nominated local administrators/technical contacts with the IT Service Desk.