Overview

The Shared Data Collection Service (formerly “Globus Storage Service”) provides a centrally managed, low-cost, shareable data storage location for large-scale university research data. The service is administered by BU Research Computing Services, leverages Globus for data transfer and access management, and utilizes the MGHPCC Northeast Storage Exchange (NESE) Disk for its underlying storage system.

This service is in a pilot phase as we finalize the IS&T Service. Early adopters can contact help@scc.bu.edu with questions.

Benefits

Easily store, access, and share research datasets. Large capacity storage is made available as Globus Collections where it is managed directly by a researcher as the Share Collection Manager. The Globus platform ensures reliable data transfer and provides data sharing capabilities through a convenient web interface. Additionally, the Globus platform includes an SDK for advanced programmatic data integrations.

Available To

This service is available to Faculty, Staff, and Departments. A Collection, once provisioned, may be shared with anyone including external collaborators or made public.

Key Features

  • Hosted in a secure and professionally managed data center
  • Store large amounts of data (1 TB-100 TB+)
  • Share data with collaborators both in and outside of Boston University
  • Present data as a Globus Collection and leverage the Globus data transfer platform
  • Approved to store Confidential data as defined by the BU Data Classification Policy.

What to Expect

This service normally will be available 24 by 7 except for standard change windows, as described in IS&T’s standard policies, procedures, and schedules for making changes.

The Shared Data Collection Service is not considered highly-available and 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 ~$35/TiB/year. Annual allocation renewal to be approved by the Share Collection Manager and payment completed through Internal Service Request (ISR) for “IS&T-RCS Shared Data Collection Service”.

Getting Started