Data Storage
There are many types of data generated through research, teaching and the administration of the department. It is important data are stored in a safe manner, respecting any regulations which govern them. It is also important that data are stored securely to reduce the risk of loss or misuse of data through cyber attacks or hardware failures.
Staff and students have access to several locations in which data can be stored. These may be located on- of off-site (potentially outside the UK) and may have various restrictions in their use. The different storage services are summarised below:
Service |
Recommended Use |
Cost |
Quota |
Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
OneDrive |
Day-to-day files Internal collaboration (e.g. Office docs, PDFs) |
Free |
200 GB (Staff) 100 GB (Student) |
Cloud |
Box |
Research data External collaboration |
Free |
100 GB (Initial) More on request |
Cloud |
Research Data Facility (RDF) |
Research data HPC usage |
Charge |
None |
IC |
Aero Dept. Storage |
Research data Dept Linux cluster |
Free |
100 GB (per user) None (per group) |
IC |
OneDrive
This is the default storage area for use by staff and students. It is used by Outlook and other Microsoft Office applications. It is also used to store the email on your Imperial College email account. This storage is located in the cloud and as such files will be transferred across the internet to a Microsoft data centre. Transfer times will be dependent on the quality and bandwidth of your internet connection.
Note
As of March 2026, quotas are enforced on OneDrive for all staff (200 GB) and students (100 GB). Exceeding the quota will prevent you being able to add additional files, or making changes to existing files.
Box
This is a secondary storage, primarily intended to store larger volumes of unrestricted non-sensitive research data. Like OneDrive, it is located in the cloud and data will be transferred across the internet. Transfer rates will similarly be subject to the quality and bandwidth of your internet connection. There is a limit on the volume of data which can be transferred per month to Box by each user.
Note
Initial quotas on Box are 100 GB per user. Staff and research students can request for this to be increased by completing this form. You can view your current usage by logging into Box and accessing the Account tab on the Account Settings page, which you can find under the menu in the top-right corner.
If you have data on OneDrive you wish to migrate to Box, ICT can complete this for you. Please fill out the request form.
Box can also be used for group storage, administered by 2-5 users. These users can then give additional users access. This allows access to data to be retained when individual users leave Imperial College. A group account can be requested here.
Research Data Facilities (RDF)
The RDF is the storage service provided by the Research Computing Service.
The data on this system is stored within the Imperial College network. When on campus, data transfer should be at the maximum speed of the network connection.
- It is comprised of several components:
RDF-HPC: Short-term storage for data generated by computations running on the HPC clusters
RDF-Active: Storage for data from active projects.
RDF-Archive: Archival of data from completed projects.
HELIX: FAIR data repository for publicly publishing data.
There are costs associated with storage on RDF-Active and RDF-Archive (contact RCS for details).
Aero data storage
The Department of Aeronautics provides dedicated data storage for its staff and students, primarily for research use. This is not managed by ICT, but is integrated with the Departmental Linux System.
All users have a home directory on the Linux system with a 100 GB quota. In addition, each permanent staff member can request a group space. Other staff and students can be given access to this area in order for data to be shared within a research group. Initial quotas are 4 TB, but this can be increased on request.
The data on this system is stored within the Imperial College network. When on campus, data transfer should be at the maximum speed of the network connection.
Further information can be found here.