{"id":137935,"date":"2021-12-03T15:16:28","date_gmt":"2021-12-03T20:16:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/tech\/?page_id=137935"},"modified":"2026-03-26T15:38:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T19:38:07","slug":"file-system-structure","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/tech\/support\/research\/system-usage\/using-file-system\/file-system-structure\/","title":{"rendered":"File System Structure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Filesystem Structure<\/h2>\n

The Linux file system starts at the “root<\/b>” (\/<\/code>) and extends forward into directories that can contain both subdirectories and files. A series of descending directories can be strung together separated by forward slash characters “\/<\/code>” to indicate a location on the filesystem. This string of folders is called a “path<\/b>” and will look like \/project\/projectname<\/span>\/subfolder<\/span>\/file<\/span><\/code>.\u00a0 This path structure is much like those of other common operating systems. Below are the most common file storage locations you will use on the SCC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Location<\/strong><\/td>\nDescription<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\/usr#<\/span>\/university_status<\/span>\/username<\/span><\/code> or \/usr4\/coursename<\/span>\/username<\/span><\/code><\/td>\nEach user has a “home directory,” this is the directory you are put in when you first log in each session. This will generally not be changed, even if your status changes or you are no longer in the course.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\/project\/projectname<\/span><\/code><\/td>\nBacked-up Project Disk Space. This is backed-up to another location each night.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\/projectnb\/projectname<\/span><\/code><\/td>\nNot backed-up (“nb”) Project Disk Space.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
Note: For BUMC users with dbGaP or other confidential datasets, the \/project\/<\/code> and \/projectnb\/<\/code> shares are located in \/restricted\/project\/project_name<\/span>\/<\/code> and \/restricted\/projectnb\/project_name<\/span>\/<\/code>.<\/div>\n

<\/a>Places to Store Your Files<\/h2>\n

Users on the SCC are automatically granted several locations to store their files. Our overall file storage system is described here<\/a>. Most users will be primarily storing files in three areas, all of which are generally accessible from all of the login and compute nodes; the exception is that the \/restricted\/<\/code> partitions are only accessible from the scc4.bu.edu<\/span><\/code> login node and all of the compute nodes. We have guidelines for what data should be stored in each partition<\/a>.<\/p>\n