File Storage

View How-To Guides for File Storage

Cloud File Storage

"Cloud" file storage options utilize a web browser interface or a special application on your desktop or notebook computer.  Files can be uploaded to these services and shared with other users of the service.

Faculty and staff have access to several approved secure and approved cloud file storage services (note -- link may require you to log in and then revisit the link), and should not use any other services for Georgia Tech related files and data, as doing so could expose sensitive data and violate institute policies and state and/or federal law.

Mountable File Storage

"Mountable" file storage options are able to appear on your desktop or notebook computer as if they were another local hard drive. College faculty and staff have two standard options for mountable file storage:

IAC File Storage (a.k.a., "NAS")

The Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts (IAC) provides file storage for faculty and staff for both individual and shared use. Benefits of this service include automatic backup, easy remote access, and better data security. Detailed documentation on IAC File Storage is available, but the following gives a quick overview of several ways to access IAC file storage:

  1. Desktop shortcuts appear automatically on most Windows computers.

    Note that there are generally three shortcuts -- the personal home directory, the school common shared area, and the college-wide shared area. Access to the personal home directory is restricted to the individual; access to the school common shared area is restricted to employees of that school; and access to the college-wide shared area is restricted to IAC employees.

  2. In cases where the shortcuts may not be available, you can still connect to these shared areas manually. In Windows, under Start-Run, type the address of the share, e.g.,

    \\iac.nas.gatech.edu\gburdell3

    \\iac.nas.gatech.edu\iac-common

    You can also leave off the share name to see a list of available shares:

    \\iac.nas.gatech.edu\

  3. On a Mac, from the Finder, choose Go->Connect to Server or Command-K, and type the share, e.g.,

    smb://iac.nas.gatech.edu/gburdell3

    smb://iac.nas.gatech.edu/iac-common

    You can also make an alias (similar to Windows shortcut) to simplify access.

  4. In some cases, people who use Windows may prefer to have their 'My Documents' automatically link to their IAC network storage -- that is, rather than local storage, 'My Documents' actually represents their network home directory. We can assist with that.

OIT File Storage (a.k.a. "Prism")

The Office of Information Technology (OIT) also provides faculty, staff, and students with a small amount of file storage on a separate file server. Similar to the above steps, this can be accessed through

  • Windows PC:  \\prism.nas.gatech.edu\gburdell3
  • Mac OS X:  smb://prism.nas.gatech.edu/gburdell3

All of the content on IAC and Prism file servers is automatically backed up, and we encourage everyone to store their work there as much as possible.

In some cases, this may not always be practical -- for example, someone who travels extensively with a laptop and stores data locally on it. For this kind of situation, IAC provides a separate backup service called Crashplan -- this provides continuous automatic backup of the laptop's data in the background. We can provide more info for those who may have this kind of need.