Why a Faculty-based File Server

Running a file server centrally is a cost-effective way of providing file services to a large group. It also greatly reduces the effort needed to ensure that the Faculty’s file storage is properly backed up and that proper network and physical security is maintained. Currently there are servers across the Faculty, many of which are not really maintained or backed up properly. A centrally run server also reduces the number of points of failure in the system, with many different servers there is an increased possibility that one will fail. The flip side to this is that if the central file server fails everybody is down. To prevent this the server will have built in redundancies so that if a single part fails it does not crash the server. If the server does crash, there will always be a member of the MCSU that will be on call and will be paged within 6 minutes. There is also 4-hour response time service contract with the supplier for the server.

A file server will allow people to backup selected files. The file server will not be able to backup all of the users’ computer, but the user will be able to access the file server as a mapped drive. They can then copy files to, or work directly from, the mapped drive. All files on the mapped drive will be backed up as per the backup schedule shown below. There are also file synchronising applications available on the market that will synchronise a local directory with one on a server. With this type of application the user can work off of their local hard drive and then at the end of the day have all of the changes within a particular directory or set of directories automatically replicated to the file server so that they are backed up. This way if the network or file server goes down the user doesn’t suffer any loss of service because they are working on their own hard drive. Then when the server or network comes back up the directories are then replicated.

Currently there are many users in the Faculty that do not have access to a file server that is regularly backed up and thus have little, if any, of their files backed up. For people that do have access to a file server, the server is generally not backed up regularly or in a well thought out way. Thus files and data can and do get destroyed accidentally. A centrally run file server would create a place where people could store files and know exactly how the files are being backed up.

Without a centrally run server if a person/group wants to have access to a file server so that they can have data backed up they need to purchase a server to do it. To purchase a small server with backing up capabilities of around 10GB, and some redundancy, there will be an initial cost of around $7000 and the server will last 3-4 years. There will also be installation, on going maintenance and a need to change the backup tapes and restore them if necessary. On a centrally run file server the same storage space can be rented out at a rate of $2000 per year with no additional required server installation, maintenance, backup or need to upgrade in the future.