Overview

The Research Archive Storage Service provides a centrally managed, low-cost, archive storage solution for inactive University research data (a.k.a. tier 3 or cold storage). The service is administered by BU Research Computing Services, leverages the Globus Platform for data transfer and access management, and uses the MGHPCC Northeast Storage Exchange (NESE) Tape System as its underlying storage system.

This service is in a pilot phase as we finalize the IS&T Service. It is available at no-cost during the pilot phase. Early adopters can contact help@scc.bu.edu with questions.

Benefits

Easily archive your large research datasets for long-term storage. High density, low-cost, tape-based storage is made available as Globus Collections where data and access is managed by the researcher as the Share Collection Manager. The Globus Platform ensures reliable data transfer through a convenient web interface.

Available To

This service is available to Faculty, Staff, and Departments. A Globus Collection may be shared with others through the Globus Platform, including with external collaborators.

Key Features

  • Housed at the MGHPCC, a secure and professionally managed data center.
  • Tape-based storage platform provides low-cost long-term storage.
  • Storage allocations provided in 20 TB increments.
  • Leverage the Globus platform for data transfer.
  • BU Data Classification approval pending. Expected to store Internal data as defined by the BU Data Classification Policy.

What to Expect

Tape-based storage systems are designed to write large volumes of data onto tape cartridges for long-term cold storage and have practical considerations for data transfer and access. Additional information about the storage system can be found in the NESE Tape Documentation.

Allocations

  • Storage allocations are made in 20 TB increments – the nominal capacity of current tape-cartridges. Note that usable space is approximately 18 TB per 20 TB tape cartridge.
  • The cost of a 20 TB allocation includes two tape cartridges. The second tape is used by the tape system for data redundancy and to ensure data integrity; it does not provide additional storage.

Writing to Tape

  • Files written to the tape-system should be between 1 GB and 1 TB. Consider creating tar/zip files of your data before transferring to tape.

Data Retrieval

  • Data retrieval from tape should be infrequent and at low volume.
  • Bulk retrieval (>40 TB) of data from tape should be coordinated with the BU Research Computing team.

Data Deletion

  • Deletion of data from tape does not immediately release storage space for re-use. Contact the BU Research Computing team to request reclamation of space when needed.

Availability
The Research Archive Storage Service is not considered highly-available. Service is subject to an annual MGHPCC datacenter downtime (typically 3 days in early summer), occasional datacenter outages, and scheduled maintenance as required by NorthEast Storage Exchange platform administrators. Notice for planned maintenance and unplanned outage activity will be communicated to Share Collection Managers.

Requirements

Cost

To expedite availability and adoption of the service, the pilot phase of this service is available at no charge.

Research Computing will implement a cost recovery model for FY26 (beginning July 2025). Expected costs are $100 for a pair of 20 TB tapes per year (~$5/TB/year). Annual allocation renewal to be approved by the Share Collection Manager and payment completed through Internal Service Request (ISR) for “Research Archive Storage Service”.

Getting Started