The university provides a wide range of low- and no-cost data storage solutions that can be used for administrative, instructional, and research data. These on-campus and cloud-based services are supported by IT professionals on campus and were also assessed by the Office of Cybersecurity. Your unit may also provide local storage services that are managed by your IT staff.
CALS has developed a matrix that describes the features and use cases for the most popular of these data storage services. The CALS Data Storage Matrix is available from the CALS IT Resources website.
The campus has also developed an online tool that can assist in selecting the best location for data based on many factors including classification, legal and contractual requirements, volume, and access needs. While the tool is geared towards research data, it can be used to select services for other data types.
While many other storage and backup solutions are available from vendors, services outside of those provided by your local IT staff or campus should be carefully considered prior to use with university data. There may be legal, contractual, or purchasing requirements that may be violated. Please consult with your local staff, CALS IT (helpdesk@cals.wisc.edu), or the Office of Cybersecurity if you have data storage requirements that aren’t met by supported campus services so we can assist in meeting your needs.