Depending on your data management needs there are various ways to use the SURF Data Archive. On this page, we discuss the three models we support and provide guidance on which model is best suited for your use case. If you are not sure or want to discuss the trade-offs for your specific use case, please contact one of our advisors via the service desk.

Personal folder

The simplest model for using the SURF Data Archive is one or more user accounts per contract. In this model, each user will get their own personal login and storage folder on the Data Archive. This model works well for single users or multiple users that don’t share files.

Project folder

The most common model for using the SURF Data Archive is the project folder. In this model, each user will get their own personal login and access to a shared storage folder on the Data Archive. This model works well for research groups, projects, or any group of people that want to share file files.

The idea of the project folder is that all data is stored in a shared location, e.g. /archive/project-name. To ensure that all information is stored in the shared project folder, the home folders of the users (/archive/<login>) on the archive are limited to 20 files only.

In some cases, users may want to limit the type of access to the data that is written in the project folder. It is possible to define two levels of accessibility for project folders. A group of users may have read-only access, while a different group of users can be assigned full read and write access.

Institutional model with multiple project folders

In the case of larger contracts for entire institutions, faculties, or large collaborations a single project folder may not offer enough flexibility. In this case, it is possible to have multiple project folders under a single location, e.g. /archive/institute/project-folder1, or have multiple locations, e.g. /archive/faculty1/project-folder1, /archive/faculty2/project-folder1 and so on.

The project folders in the institutional model offer the same features as the regular project folders. Each login can be associated with one or multiple project folders and for each project folder it is possible to create a group with read-only logins and a group with full read-and-write access.

An additional feature of the institutional model is the concept of data stewards. Per top-level folder, i.e. /archive/folder, it is possible to assign logins to a data steward or data manager group. The logins associated with this group have full read-and-write access on all subfolders.

Comparison of models

The table below shows a quick comparison of the different models as described in the sections above. You can use this table to select the model that fits your situation. If you are not sure or want to discuss the trade-offs for your specific use case, please contact one of our advisors via the service desk.