Storage and backup
Good storage and backup are essential in any research project. Learn about storage options available to you and best practice for backing up valuable data.
Popular pages on the Library website
What to consider in your DMP
Employing good storage and backup practices during your project can help to prevent data loss and unauthorised access. Whether you're collecting new data or accessing existing data, you need to consider:
- where data will be stored
- how you plan to protect any confidential data.
- who will have access to the data
- how often you'll back it up
- where you'll store backups of your data.
Storage options
You must ensure that data is stored safely, securely and protected from loss, as set out in the Research Data Management Policy. You should take steps to ensure your chosen data storage methods comply with:
- the University’s Information Security Policy
- the (GDPR)
- funder requirements
- any commitments made in consent forms.
SharePoint
For most research projects, we recommend creating a dedicated Microsoft SharePoint site at the start of the project to store and manage research data. SharePoint provides a secure, University-managed space for research data and supports collaboration between members of the research team.
Postgraduate research students are strongly encouraged to create a dedicated SharePoint site for their research project and add at least one supervisor as a site owner. This helps ensure that research data remains accessible by both the student and supervisory team throughout the project and supports continuity of access when a student's University account is closed following completion of their programme.
SharePoint can also be used to provide secure, controlled access to internal and external collaborators where appropriate. You should ensure your site is set to private and only grant access to individuals who require it for the purposes of the research project.
OneDrive
Microsoft OneDrive is suitable for individual working files, drafts and research materials. However, where research data will be shared with supervisors, collaborators or project team members, a dedicated SharePoint site is generally the preferred option. Researchers should avoid relying solely on an individual OneDrive account as the primary storage location for research data that may need to remain accessible beyond the lifetime of their University account.
When using either OneDrive or SharePoint, access to files containing sensitive data should be restricted to authorised individuals and managed in accordance with the University's Information Security Policy.
The Library provides dedicated help and guidance for using University storage systems.
Not recommended
- Portable storage media (e.g. CDs, USB sticks) are vulnerable to loss or damage
- Third party cloud storage (e.g. Google Drive, Dropbox) does not come with the same data protection assurances as the University’s storage options
- Local storage (e.g. C: drive) is vulnerable to damage and does not automatically back files up
If you need to use external storage devices to collect data or store backups, you should contact DIT via the Service Desk.
Data backup
Regularly backing up your data is an essential part of research data management. Backups protect against data loss which might occur due to hardware failure, software faults, or human error.
It's generally recommended that you make two or three backups of research data. Copies should be stored on at least two different storage media and, where possible, one copy should be stored off-site.
.
Costs
There may be costs associated with the storage and backup of your active research data. Costs might be incurred, for example, if additional storage is needed beyond the standard offering at the University. You might also need to factor in the costs of backing up your data.
Non-digital data
Not all data that you create or collect will be digital. Non-digital data can be anything from:
- handwritten lab notebooks
- artefacts
- medical specimens
- geological samples.
Where it's not possible to digitise your data, you should take steps to store the physical data in a secure location such as a locked, fireproof safe. .