Globus Terminology

These are some key terms used throughout our and Globus’ documentation that are helpful to understand. These definitions went into effect as of Globus Version 5. Please refer to the Globus documentation, FAQ, and mailing list for additional support.

Collection

A Globus collection is a set of files and folders that have been configured to be accessible to the Globus transfer client. Collections are not persistent file servers themselves. Instead, they rely on a server service to make them active; namely using Globus Connect Personal or Globus Connect Server.

• Using Globus Connect Personal, you can create and administer your own collections on any device (Windows, Mac, Linux). You do not need full administrative (sudo) access on the machine, you only need access to the data.
• Using Globus Connect Server, you can create and administer multiple collections on a Linux machine. You will need full administrative (sudo) access on the machine, and will have many more configuration options and features than using Globus Personal Connect.

In addition to creating your own collections with the above options, there are existing collections administered by Boston University which are accessible to all BU students, faculty and staff. Please refer to the individual page for accessing the SCC collection, Google Drive collection, or Shared Data Collection Service.

Endpoint

A Globus endpoint is a Globus server. You may find “endpoint” used interchangeably with “collection” in documentation of Globus Version 4 or earlier, but that usage has been deprecated.

Guest Collection (share)

In Globus, share is a feature that can be configured within a collection. Similar in practice to how sharing works in Google Drive or Dropbox, you can add users and set their permissions on any folder (not on individual files). Please refer to Globus’ documentation on setting up a Globus Guest Collection. Currently, this is only enabled for BU Administrators. If you believe you should have access to this feature, please email help@scc.bu.edu.

Shared Data Collection Service

The Shared Data Collection Service is an offering by RCS which provides a centrally managed, low-cost, shareable data storage location for large-scale university research data. This is separate from “Globus Connect Personal” which is installed on your computer (typically as a desktop client) and the Globus website which is primarily used for data transfers between collections (via the File Manager).