To receive guidance on understanding your storage charges or managing storage usage more efficiently, faculty members or their research team can schedule a consultation with Research Technology by emailing tts-research@tufts.edu.

Yes. TTS Research Technology has offered multiple information sessions and workshops over the past year and will continue to provide these learning opportunities. Upcoming workshop schedules can be found on the Tufts Library Calendar, and periodic email announcements will be shared with the research computing community.

• TTS Research Technology – Research Data Storage – Provides an overview of the tiered research storage environment and available storage tiers.
• Research Storage Dashboard – Allows faculty and their designated approvers to view current research storage usage and quota status.
• Tufts Data Storage Finder – Helps identify the most appropriate storage solution for your research needs.
• Research Data Management Checklist Online Survey – Estimates storage costs for both active project data and long-term data retention.
• Tufts OVPR Guidance on Research Data and Materials, Section III: Where and how should my data be stored? – Provides University guidelines on where and how research data should be stored and retained.
• TTS Globus Guide  – Provides instructions for using Globus to transfer data between Tier 1 and Tier 2 storage environments.

Tufts-employed individual faculty member or faculty member’s research group whose research requires research computing storage are eligible for up to 10TB of no-cost storage quota each for Tier 1 and Tier 2. Allocations are for research usage only, new requests require storage consultation and approval. Please see the Tufts Data Storage Finder to determine the appropriate storage solution for your research usage.

You can verify your eligibility by checking your status in the Tufts Directory. Individuals whose listing includes the designation “Faculty” and whose research requires research computing storage are eligible for the no-cost storage quota.

The no-cost storage quota is available only to Principal Investigators who hold faculty appointments. Principal Investigators who are not faculty members will have their storage allocations included under the no-cost quota of the faculty member overseeing their research group.

The no-cost storage quota is available only to Tufts faculty. Researchers who are not faculty members will have their storage allocations included under the no-cost quota of the faculty member overseeing their research group or may request additional research storage by providing a funding source.

No. Clinical faculty who are not employed by the university may use research storage but must pay for their usage at the faculty rate.

Faculty members or their designated approvers can request a new storage allocation by completing the Research Data Storage Survey available on the Research Technology – Research Data Storage page. All storage access requires faculty sponsorship and approval from TTS Research Technology.

Tier 1 storage allocations begin at 50 GB. Faculty researchers may request additional storage based on the specific computational and data requirements of their research projects.

The 10 TB Tier 1 and 10 TB Tier 2 is per faculty member or faculty member’s research group. If multiple faculty members are part of a larger research group, center, or institute, then each research faculty member will receive the no-cost quota.

The 10 TB Tier 1 and 10 TB Tier 2 no-cost quotas are allocated per faculty member or per faculty member’s research group. If multiple faculty members are part of the same department, lab, or center, each faculty member receives their own no-cost quota.

Yes, if a research group or collaboration consists of multiple faculty members who are eligible for the no-cost quota and whose research requires research computing storage, and they want to combine their no cost quotas on a single project, they can.  Note one faculty member will need to be designated as the owner of this storage project, but the sum total of the faculty members no cost quota can be applied.

Research computing storage operates as a service center (cost center) and must apply the no-cost storage quota consistently across all faculty requiring research computing storage resources for their research. In accordance with the Research Storage Committee’s policy, faculty members who are unable to fund storage usage beyond their no-cost quota should consult with their department chair and Dean of Research to explore potential funding sources to cover the additional storage costs.

No. A separate storage space allocation is provided to each registrar-listed course under the HPC course policy.

Researchers should use the Tufts Data Storage Finder and describe their data and intended usage to help identify the most appropriate storage solution for their research needs. They may also schedule a consultation with Research Technology by emailing  tts-research@tufts.edu.

Please email tts-research@tufts.edu to schedule a consultation with a Research Technology team member.

Researchers should use Globus to transfer data between Tiers 1 and 2. For additional information on using Globus please visit the TTS Globus Guide .

Archiving data to Tier 3 requires assistance from Research Technology. To schedule a consultation, email tts-research@tufts.edu.

When using Globus, transfer rates will vary depending on the file size, number of files being transferred, and data validations and interruptions. Typically, data transfers between Tier 1 HPC and Tier 2 should be multi-GBPS.

Transferring data to Tier 3 is a longer process as it requires Research Technology staff assistance and is writing to the NESE Tape service.
 

Faculty can designate approvers by emailing their request to tts-research@tufts.edu.  Please include the approver’s name, Tufts username (UTLN), and the specific storage tier(s) for which they should have approval access.

To add or remove a user or service account, the faculty member or their designated approver should email the request to  tts-research@tufts.edu. Please include the research group name, Tufts username (UTLN), and the specific storage tier(s) associated with the request.

Faculty and their designated approvers can view current research storage usage and quota status through the Research Storage Dashboard. If a research group’s total storage usage exceeds the no-cost quota, the amount over the limit will be billed to the faculty member beginning July 2026.

To receive guidance on determining your storage charges or reducing or managing storage usage more efficiently, faculty or members of their research team may schedule a consultation with Research Technology by emailing tts-research@tufts.edu.

Storage charges are based on the amount of storage allocated (quota) beyond the no-cost quota, not the amount currently in use. For example, if a faculty member’s total allocation (quota) is 15 TB, and they are using 12 TB, they will be billed for the 5 TB allocated above the 10 TB no-cost quota.

Storage quotas are intended to reflect the amount of storage a researcher reasonably expects to use in the near term (e.g., the next one to two months). Storage quotas will be easy to adjust using the new Research Computing Resource Management Tool coming mid-March 2026; researchers can log in and modify their quota as needed. Currently researchers’ quotas can be viewed through the Research Storage Dashboard. If a researcher needs to adjust their quota, they should email their request to tts-research@tufts.edu.

Faculty or their designated approvers must provide a valid grant ID or department ID to cover research storage allocations that exceed the no-cost quota. Any allocations beyond the no-cost allocation will be automatically billed monthly to the billing ID(s) provided.

Yes. Faculty or their designated approvers may allocate portions of their research storage allocations to multiple funding sources by assigning specific percentages to different grant IDs or department IDs.

Yes. In most cases if storage allocations over a specified threshold is related to a sponsored project, the cost can be charged to sponsored awards as a direct cost. Normal consumption is consumption below the TTS no-cost quota. Please contact your research administrator if you have any questions. 

2 CFR 200.413 Direct Costs Applies to all Federal Awards:

“If directly related to a specific award, certain costs that otherwise would be treated as indirect costs may also be considered direct costs. Examples include extraordinary utility consumption, the cost of materials supplied from stock or services rendered by specialized facilities, program evaluation costs, or other institutional service operations.”

No. Per the terms of Tufts indirect cost agreement, these costs would be a direct charge and F&A is collected on them. Please contact your research administrator if you have any questions. 

Many federal agencies now require research data retention as part of their award terms. Researchers should include data retention costs in their proposal budget as required, as these expenses are typically incurred and charged during the final year of the grant, prior to project closeout.

TTS Research Technology, in partnership with OVPR, has developed tools, guidance, and standard language to assist researchers in budgeting for storage costs in sponsored proposals. Researchers should collaborate with their LRA and OVPR during the pre-award process to incorporate these costs appropriately.  The Research Data Management Checklist can be used to estimate storage costs for both active project data and long-term data retention requirements. To schedule a consultation, email tts-research@tufts.edu.

If a faculty member’s research storage allocations exceeds the no-cost quota and no funding is available to cover the additional cost, they should contact their department chair and research dean to identify potential funding sources to bridge the gap. TTS also recommends that the faculty member, or a member of their research team, consult with TTS Research Technology for guidance on reducing or managing storage usage more efficiently. To schedule a consultation, email tts-research@tufts.edu.

If a faculty member’s research storage allocations exceeds the no-cost quota and no funding is available to cover the additional cost, they should reach out to their dean for faculty affairs with their department chair to help identify funding sources to bridge the gap. TTS also recommends that the faculty member, or a member of their research team, consult with TTS Research Technology for guidance on reducing or managing storage usage more efficiently. To schedule a consultation, email tts-research@tufts.edu.

No. The Tufts tiered research storage service is an enterprise-grade solution that provides secure, compliant, and fully supported storage for research data. It includes maintenance, monitoring, indexing, backup, and access controls to ensure data integrity and compliance with institutional and federal requirements. Researchers who choose to use external solutions such as NAS devices or external hard drives are solely responsible for managing security, maintenance, and compliance for their data. The Research Storage Committee also designed the Tufts tiered storage environment to be cost-competitive with alternative storage solutions.

Researchers considering local storage solutions should also note:

• Tufts OVPR strongly recommends that all sponsored research data be stored on TTS-approved storage. See Tufts OVPR Guidance on Research Data and Materials, Section III: Where and how should my data be stored? for additional details.
• TTS does not provide support for setting up, connecting clients to, or operating Networked-Attached Storage (NAS).
• NAS devices and external hard drives are prone to failure, which can result in permanent data loss. TTS does not provide data recovery support for locally managed research storage solutions.
• NAS devices do not offer the same performance as Tier 1 RStore and cannot be integrated with the Tufts HPC environment.
• The total cost of NAS ownership and operation often exceeds researchers’ initial estimates. TTS Research Technology has found that Tier 2 storage is typically comparable to or less expensive than the actual cost of maintaining a self-managed NAS.

TTS, in partnership with the University Libraries, is currently developing a new research data repository to replace Dataverse and better serve the Tufts research community. While the final platform and policies are still being determined, the goal is to integrate the repository with the Tufts tiered research storage system. This approach will eliminate the need for multiple copies of data. Data deposited for public distribution and stored in Tier 2 or Tier 3 will reside within the faculty member’s existing allocation, and the same storage costs will apply as for other data in those tiers.

No. LabArchives is separate from the Tufts research computing tiered storage system, and storage used within LabArchives does not count toward the no-cost quota. However, research data should not be moved from tiered research storage to LabArchives to avoid storage charges. For more information about LabArchives and appropriate storage options, please refer to the Tufts Data Storage Finder.   

Yes. You will be charged for the 5 TB of Tier 1 HPC storage allocated beyond your 10 TB no-cost quota. Storage charges are based on the amount allocated (quota), not the amount currently in use. For this instance, you should work with Research Technology to lower your allocation (quota) below the 10 TB no-cost quota. To schedule a consultation, email tts-research@tufts.edu.

No. The 10 TB no-cost storage quota applies to the total combined amount of Tier 1 HPC and Tier 1 RStore storage, not to each allocation individually.

No. The 10 TB no-cost storage quota applies to the total combined amount of all Tier 2 Research storage allocations, not to each allocation individually.

No. As a faculty member, your no-cost quota covers these amounts, so you will not incur any additional charges.

No. TTS provides a separate no-cost storage allocation for each registrar-listed course, including capstone courses, that requires the use of research computing storage. This course-specific allocation is independent of a faculty member’s individual no-cost research storage quota. For additional details, please refer to the TTS HPC Course Policy.

Faculty can request a research computing storage allocation by following the guidelines outlined in the TTS HPC Course Policy. The policy provides detailed instructions on eligibility, allocation limits, and the process for submitting a course storage request.

• Tier 1 HPC Storage: Students receive a default allocation of 30GB in their /cluster/home/UTLN folder. Requests for additional storage beyond this amount require faculty sponsorship.
• Tier 1 RStore:
• Course Use (Including Capstones): TTS provides a separate no-cost storage allocation for each registrar-listed course that requires research computing storage. For details, refer to the TTS HPC Course Policy.
• Thesis, Dissertation, and Research Projects: Storage needs beyond the 30GB default allocation must be sponsored by a faculty member. Sponsored storage is included under the sponsoring faculty member’s no-cost quota.