Storage

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To access your storage allocation, click on Administration from the administrator menu. On the groups tab, click the cog wheel next to the group whose storage you want to access. Storage is accessible in the middle of the configuration page.

The administrator can divide the overall institution storage between users and projects (group projects only). We have chosen to use the term project instead of group because the storage is used only for uploading data into projects connected to groups. This means that, even if quota is allocated to groups, it can only be used (consumed) by the content uploaded in group projects.

Administrators can either use a slider to divide quota or define it manually. When the quota division is done by using the slider, the number of TB/GB/MB from the text box is also updated. When the quota is divided by using the text box, the slider will be automatically repositioned to indicate the change. The percentage will also be updated. The scale of the slider will be configured based on the amount of space purchased by the institution. For example, if the institution configures a large amount of storage, then an allocation in MB will not be visible on the slider.  

New storage distribution allows administrators to divide another chunk of quota added on top of the existing one once your portal is live. When selecting evenly, the segment above will represent the new value. The percentage will not change, but the absolute value in the text box will be modified. Both users’ and projects' quota values will increase with the same amount of space equal to the amount bought divided by two.

If the selected value is fixed for projects, then all extra quota will be allocated to projects. In this case, the slider will be moved to the left; the percentage for the user quota will be decreased but the value will remain fixed. The project's quota will increase, as well as the percentage. If the selected value is fixed for users, then all extra quota will go to users. In this case, the slider will be moved to the right; the percentage for the projects quota will be decreased but the value will remain fixed. The user's quota will increase as well as the percentage.

The initial quota per user setting is the value given to any user in the institution by default at account creation. If the user quota is handled via the HR feed, then this value will be disregarded. If the administrator modifies this value, the change will apply only to created users.

The initial quota per project parameter is an optional attribute that can be set at the creation of a subgroup or edited later. It represents the initial quota allocated to each project within this group. If this figure is modified at creation, then all projects associated to the group will have this quota by default. If this parameter is modified later, in the configure group screen, then only new projects will be affected by this modification.

The HR feed administrator section is only applicable for institutions that are using an HR feed for creating accounts. Administrators can define the association criteria on every group, but they can also define it at institution level for all groups.

Virtual storage

We can apply a virtual storage to your instance of Figshare. This means that the value of your storage allocation can be higher than the actual amount available to your institution.  

The reason we define a virtual quota is to allow an institution greater flexibility, especially in the initial stages of the implementation when it is very difficult to guess the actual usage.

After a period of time, when we can observe a usage pattern, we can reconfigure the quota for the entire institution or the allocation between users and projects.

For example, if your institution has 100 active users and you would like to start with allocating 100 GB for every user, we will need to configure the total virtual quota by multiplying 100 GB by 100 users. Then, we will need to approximate the number of projects per group, if any, and the amount they will need in general. By doing these approximations, we will be able to add the 2 values and come up with a total “virtual storage” for the institution.

In general, we have observed that institutions tend to divide their virtual storage 80/20 between users and projects. With the help of the reporting module, administrators will be able to keep an eye on the actual usage and adjust the virtual storage when needed. Institutions will only be charged for the used storage and not for the virtual storage.