Introduction to Faculty / Staff File Sharing
Faculty/Staff members at Western have access to a File Share System that allows files to be stored on a network server. This server, called Spark.wcsu, can be accessed from any desktop computer that is connected to the University's campus network.
The server Spark.wcsu is setup with the following format:
- Each faculty/staff member with an NT account has a personal area to store files. For individuals using a Windows NT or Windows 95 computer, it will be labeled as the H:\ drive.
- Access to an individual's H:\ drive is restricted to only the user and the Information Technology & Innovation backup process/procedure.
- Faculty/staff using Spark.wcsu will be given a quota of 200 MB (approximately 139 floppy disks).
- In addition to the individual storage areas, Spark.wcsu has a "Common" area. For individuals using a computer equipped with Windows NT or Windows 95, the Common area will be labeled as the K:\ drive.
- Each department has a folder within the K:\ drive. Only members of the particular department, as well as the department secretary, have access to a department's common folder.
- There are six temp university folders (e.g. "Temp - Ancell School of Business", "Temp -Administration", etc.); only members of that particular university area can access the files in that folder.
- In addition, a "Temp-Shared" folder in the K:\ drive has been created where all faculty and staff members have access.
- Files that are left on the K:\ drive, whether they are saved in a "Temp" area or the department common folder, will be charged to the quota of the creator. (Note: The "Temp" areas are only temporary storage. Information Technology & Innovation reserves the right to delete files older than one week.)
- Inside the "Common" folder, there is a special folder called "DropOff". Inside DropOff is a folder for every department. Everyone has the ability to write to these directories, however only the department members have the ability to read, move, copy, and delete from their directory. The DropOff area is intended for interdepartmental file sharing.
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As an example, a Math/CS professor can give an Excel document to Financial Aid by copying it to Financial Aid's folder in the DropOff area. A member of Financial Aid would then move the Excel file to the department common folder or to his/her personal folder.
- The disk space on the individual (H:\ drive) and Common (K:\ drive) areas is intended for documents and data files, not applications or programs.
- In additional to the services provided by the H:\ and K:\ drives, Spark.wcsu also houses the WCSU General share (labeled as the T:\ drive). The T:\ drive contains a folder of hundreds of clipart images for use in applications.
Technical Comments:
- The Spark.wcsu system is currently running a RAID level 5 system, which uses several independent disks in parallel and writes data and special parity information across the disks, reducing the risk of loosing data in the event of a disk failure.
- Spark.wcsu is backed up on tapes each night during the week.
- If a file is moved to a department's "DropOff" folder, the original owner is still charged the quota for the file. If a file is copied to a department's "DropOff" folder, the original owner will be charged the additional amount of quota for the new copy of the file.
Other Available Information:
- Using Spark.wcsu from a computer running Windows NT/95.
- Using Spark.wcsu from a Macintosh computer.
