File Shares & Storage is where customers are able to access, share, and collaborate across campus; across the country; and around the world with a few clicks on a desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone. Individuals, teams and departments can use WUSTL Box to store and share files with unlimited cloud storage. The user-friendly interface makes uploading and organizing content fast and easy. Customers are able to access, share and collaborate across campus, across the country and around the world with a few clicks on a desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone.
Outcomes
Customers find the File Shares & Storage service offering useful for storing documents and files in a single, secure network or cloud location enabling backup and recovery.
Requirements & Considerations
Files which are stored on Box are accessible from any device, including mobile devices, where an internet connection is available. Files stored in on-premise file shares require connection from on campus or via VPN.
Email is not a recommended file storage solution for the following reasons:
- Files stored in emails that are later deleted are not recoverable
- If locally stored email files becomes corrupted, you could lose the contents of the locally stored file
- It can be difficult to locate the latest version of a file when additional versions are emailed
Features & Options
- WUSTL Box
- On premise network file shares
Features of WUSTL Box include drag and drop versioning, and real-time activity alerts. Current staff, faculty and students with a university email address can share files, view and comment on any kind of document, and connect on multiple devices. Box permissions and reporting capability allow for controlling and monitoring access. Box apps (like Box Drive, Box Edit, and Box Notes) can be used to enhance functionality of WUSTL Box.
On premise file shares provide CIFS and NFS based shares which are replicated across two data centers on campus, backed up to disk three times daily, and allow for self-service restore.
You can also print a version of the file storage solutions options chart.
Printable file storage options chart (PDF)
| OneDrive (Office 365) | WUSTL Box | Cloud Storage (AWS, Azure, GCP) | On-premise Network File Shares (files.wustl.edu) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service Owner/Contact | Dan Zweifel | John Bailey | Jim Johnson | John Bailey |
| Short Description | Secure file storage and collaboration platform with seamless integration to Microsoft Office apps, letting you easily share and collaborate across campus and with partners outside the university. | Secure file storage and collaboration platform that lets you easily share and collaborate across campus and with partners outside of the University. | On-and off-premise hosting for data storage management of files, VM storage, blob and more. Public cloud platform service is supported by Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform. | Traditional network file shares which are replicated across two data centers on campus, backed up to disk three times daily, and allow for self-service restore from previous versions. |
| Who Can Use This Service | Faculty, staff, students, researchers/PIs, departments/schools | Faculty, staff, students, researchers/PIs, departments/schools | Faculty, staff, researchers/PIs, departments/schools | Faculty, staff, researchers/PIs, departments/schools |
| Intended Audience | All WUSTL departments, schools, and students | All WUSTL departments, schools, and students | Departments/schools | Departments/schools |
| Cost | University funded | University funded | Requestor funded | 5GB per IPed FTE of network file storage included in BIT Bundle. $1.38 per GB allocated annually for all storage above base allotment. |
| Amount of Storage Provided (per person, per team) | 1TB; Increase to 5TB by request | Unlimited | Unlimited | 5GB per person |
| Maximum File Size | 250GB | 150GB | Varies | 16TB |
| Supported Files | Unsupported: .lock, CON, PRN, AUX, NUL, COM0 – COM9, LPT0 – LPT9, _vti_, desktop.ini, any filename starting with ~$. | Adobe (.pdf, .ai, .psd), Microsoft Office (.xls, .xlsx, .ppt, .pptx, .doc, .docx), Open Office (.odp, .ods, .odt), Text (.csv, .rtf, .txt, .html), WordPerfect (.wpd), Image (.jpeg, .png, .gif, .tiff, .bmp), Audio/Video (.flv, .swf, .mp3, .mp4, .avi, .mov, .mpg, .mpeg, .wmv, .qt, .ra, .ram) | Any | Any |
| Version Control | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Personal Storage | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Group Storage | Yes, but SharePoint online recommended | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Real-Time Collaboration & Editing | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| FERPA Compliant | yes | Yes | Yes, if configured | Yes |
| HIPAA Compliant | Yes | Yes | Yes, if configured | Yes |
| PHI Compliant | Yes | Yes | Yes, if configured | Yes |
| Backup/Recovery | Yes | Yes | Yes, if configured | Yes |
| Mobile App | Yes | Yes – Box App | No | No |
| Desktop App | Yes | Yes – Box Drive | No | No |
| Web App | Yes – View the “To Access Your OneDrive” section on the OneDrive page | Yes – Box Web app | Yes – View the Cloud Computing page for more info | No |
| WUSTL Key Access | Required | Required | Yes | Yes |
| Offline Access | Yes (via OneDrive Sync offline access) | Yes (via Box Drive offline access) | No | No |
| Ownership | Access is terminated once a user’s affiliation with WashU ends. | Access is terminated once a user’s affiliation with WashU ends. Graduates are given a 90 day grace period after graduation to transition their account to a personal Box account. | Access is terminated once a user’s affiliation with WashU ends | |
| Related Services | Teams | |||
| File Naming Restrictions | Unsupported characters: ” * : < > ? / \ | | Box does not support ‘/’ and ‘\’ anywhere in a file or folder name or whitespaces at the beginning or end of a file or folder name. | Unsupported characters: Windows: <>:”/\|?* Mac: : | |
| Ransomware Protection | Yes | Bulk file version rollback possible via request |
| Dedicated File Server | RAW Storage | Teams | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Owner/Contact | Jim Johnson | Jim Johnson | Dan Zweifel |
| Short Description | Dedicated physical or virtual server for hosting a file server. | Direct storage mapped to physical server. | Chat-based workspace that brings together people, conversations and content—along with the tools that teams need—so they can easily collaborate to achieve more. |
| Who Can Use This Service | Faculty, staff, researchers/PIs, departments/schools | Faculty, staff, researchers/PIs, departments/schools | Faculty, staff, students, researchers/PIs, departments/schools |
| Intended Audience | Departments/schools | Departments/schools | All WUSTL departments, schools, and students |
| Cost | Requestor funded | Requestor funded | University funded |
| Amount of Storage Provided (per person, per team) | Limited to agreed sizing and funding | Limited to agreed sizing and funding | Unlimited |
| Maximum File Size | 15GB | ||
| Supported Files | Any | Any | Unsupported: .lock, CON, PRN, AUX, NUL, COM0 – COM9, LPT0 – LPT9, _vti_, desktop.ini, any filename starting with ~$. |
| Version Control | Yes | No | Yes |
| Personal Storage | No | No | Yes |
| Group Storage | Yes | No | Yes |
| Real-Time Collaboration & Editing | No | No | Yes |
| FERPA Compliant | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| HIPAA Compliant | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PHI Compliant | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Backup/Recovery | Yes | No | Yes |
| Mobile App | No | No | Yes – Detailed instructions on accessing Teams (PDF) |
| Desktop app | No | No | Yes – Detailed instructions on accessing Teams (PDF) |
| Web App | No | No | Yes – O365 website (Search for the Teams Icon and launch the web application.) |
| WUSTL Key Access | Yes | Dependent on front-end system | Yes |
| Offline Access | No | No | Yes |
| Ownership | Department/school | Department/school | |
| Related Services | files.wustl.edu | Office 365, OneDrive, SharePoint Online | |
| File Naming Restrictions | Dependent on operating system | Dependent on front-end system | |
| Ransomware Protection |
Service Level Expectations (SLE)
| Service Request | Fulfillment Target |
|---|---|
| File Shares and Storage | 1 business day |
The File Shares and Storage Service Offering is within the Basic IT Bundle (Bit Bundle) Service. The complete Service Level Expectation (SLE) document for the Basic IT Bundle (Bit Bundle) Service can be found here: Basic IT Bundle (Bit Bundle) SLE (PDF).
Training and How-To
How to Map File Services Personal and Departmental Drives (PDF)