Why do I need to save my files on my U drive instead of my hard drive or USB drive?
Data security is a top priority for the campus. Recently the President’s Cabinet passed a new Data Classification Policy that requires all campus employees to securely store, access and transmit confidential and sensitive data. Your U drive and department share drive have been designated as the safest and best place for you to store your college data. Instead of asking each user to review a complex set of rules to assess the security requirements for each file, we have added storage to the shares server, so you can easily store all of your college data in this secure location.
What are the benefits of storing my files on my U drive and department share?
U drives and department shares are accessible everywhere from any computer on campus or off. For example, if you work on a PowerPoint presentation in your office and save it to your U drive, it can be accessed from a computer anywhere on campus as long as you have authenticated (logged in) with your username and password. When you’re not on a campus, you can VPN into your shared drives and securely access your files.
Backed Up Automatically:
All files on your U drive and department share are automatically backed up twice daily and archived nightly. Archives are stored for one month. Backing up your files is critical. If your hard drive fails, and you haven’t made a recent backup, there’s a good chance that your files can not be recovered. With your files stored on the U drive, should you need to recover a file, The Help Center will be able to recover most files, as long as they are stored on the shares server.
Secure:
U drives and department shares are more secure than any hard drive, portable hard drive, USB drive or personal device. U drives and department shares are on SUNY Cortland servers protected with a strong firewall from viruses and malware. Confidential and sensitive data created by software systems, departments or individuals and kept on the U drive or a department share are provided secure storage to meet requirements of the Data Classification Policy.
Can I store my personal data (iTunes, photos, etc.) on my U drive?
No, your U drive and department share are only for college data.
What about research data?
If you have research data, please contact The Help Center, and we will work with you on a secure location to store your data.
How do I save new files to my U drive?
Once connected to your U drive, you can save your new files to a folder on your U drive by selecting the path to the U drive instead of the My Documents folder current folder path. The Help Center can help you move any existing files or set up the U drive as the default save location.
How do I move my files to my U drive or department share?
To move files to the U drive follow these steps (PC):
- Right-click the file name
- Select Send To:
Select the U drive path Username (\\shares\\home$\myRedDragonUsername) (U:)
2b.Or select the department share path (\\shares\departmentshare)
To move files to the U drive follow these steps (Mac):
- Open the Finder window
- Locate the file to be moved.
- Drag and drop the file to the U drive icon
Contact The Help Center at 607-753-2500 if further assistance is needed.