File Storage in your UNet Web Space
Overview
One of the many useful features of your UNet account is your home directory, which is your personal network-based file storage. With this feature, you have a central repository to which you can store and retrieve files from any Internet-connected computer. This is handy when working on files on different computers, and is much more secure and reliable than carrying files around on floppy disks, which are susceptible to the environment. You can use your network storage to backup files, share files with others, move files from one computer to another, and
publish to the Web. This is especially useful with the computers in the public clusters.
How to Connect
Windows Run Command (On Campus)
If you are logged on to a Windows machine on campus, you may access your UNet space by clicking on Start > Run, and typing \\UNETHOME\username into the command line.
You need to prefix the USERS\ qualifier to your login name only if you are on a computer in another domain. For example, to log on from a machine that is networked within the BIO domain, joeschmo's username needs to be USERS\joeschmo rather than joeschmo. Student-owned computers are not usually joined to any domain (you don't want to be in a domain - if you were, LTS domain administrators could read all your files), so joeschmo can log on as simply "joeschmo" from a Win98 or XP machine at home.
\\UNDERGRAD is the same machine; we just added an alias to clarify that it's not for undergraduates only.
Mac SMB (On Campus)
If you are using a Mac on campus, you may login with Smb:
- From the Finder menu, select Go > Connect to Server…
- In the window that appears, enter the following address: smb://unethome.brandeis.edu/username. "username" is your UNet username; this is the same as your Brandeis email account.
- Press the Connect button.
- You will be prompted to enter your UNet username and password.
- Click OK when done.
- Your network storage folder will appear in a new window on the desktop.
- To transfer files, simply move them into this window (Note that your home directory has a number of folders already created.) Store your work in your private folder.
- When you are finished, you MUST disconnect to prevent others from accessing your files. Drag the icon on the desktop with your UNet username into the trash can on the dock. As you drag it, the trash icon will change into an "eject" icon.
Windows SSH (Both On and Off Campus)
SSH Secure Shell is the supported file transfer program used at Brandeis, because it is more secure than standard FTP programs. SSH for Windows is availble for download at
http://conch.unet.brandeis.edu/ and
http://urchin.unet.brandeis.edu/. The installer is called SSHWinClient.exe.
To launch SSH:
- Go to the Start Menu and click on "Secure File Transfer Client." A new log in window should appear. If it does not, then choose File > Quick Connect.
- For Host Name, enter a server: conch.unet.brandeis.edu or urchin.unet.brandeis.edu. Both servers are functionally identical. If one server happens to be down, you can always try the other.
- For User Name, enter your Brandeis UNet username. This is the same as your email address without the "@brandeis.edu."
- Click Connect.
- Another box will prompt you for your password.
- Enter it, then click OK.
Uploading Files:
- In the left pane, highlight the folder in your directory in which you want to put your files. If there are nested folders, click the small plus (+) to display deeper level folders.
- In the menu bar, select Operation > Upload. A new local file browser will appear.
- Select the files you want to upload, then click Upload to begin the transfer. A progress window will appear, and close automatically when the transfer is complete.
Downloading Files:
- Select file in the right window. If you want to transfer several files or folders, hold down the shift key as you click to highlight multiple selections.
- Go to the menu bar and select Operation > Download. A new window will appear, allowing you to browse your hard drive. Select a folder in which to save your files.
- Click Download. A progress window will appear while your files are downloaded. When done, the window will close automatically.
NOTE: SSH Secure Shell also allows you to drag-and-drop files and folders. Also note that if you are trying to delete folders, you must delete all the files inside of the folder before SSH Secure Shell will allow you to delete the folder. Make sure you are showing hidden files. To show hidden files, click "view," and "show hidden files."
Mac SFTP (Both On and Off Campus)
What is SFTP?
SFTP stands for secure file transfer protocol. You use an SFTP client to securely transfer files from one computer to another, such as from your computer to your UNet home directory, or from a public software archive to your computer.
SFTP is preferred over FTP because it uses encryption to establish a secure connection between your computer and the server. This protects your data and password, and helps to keep the whole network more secure for everyone.
Downloading Fugu software for Mac OS X users
LTS supports a program called Fugu for SFTP under OS X. If you are on campus, you can download Fugu from the public software repository. If you are off campus, you will need to visit the Fugu site directly.
Connecting to a server with Fugu
Double-click on the Fugu icon in your Applications folder to launch Fugu. The first window you will see is the login screen. If you don't see it, go to File menu and select New Connection.
For the Host Name, enter the one of the following:
- conch.unet.brandeis.edu
- urchin.unet.brandeis.edu
Everyone has a choice of two servers to use, but both are functionally identical. If one server happens to be down, you can always try the other.
In the Login field, enter your
UNet ID. Next, enter your password, which is the same UNet password that you use with your e-mail. If you wish to use the MacOS Keychain to remember your password, click Add to Keychain, but because this is a security risk, do this only if you are the only person to use the computer. Click Connect.
After a moment, you'll be connected to the server. If you're connecting for the first time, a prompt will appear and display the public key of the server. Click Yes to continue.
Transferring Files
In the new window, you'll see a list of folders in your UNet home directory. The default folders include public, private, and WWW. For your personal files, use the private folder. The WWW folder is for your web site files, published at http://people.brandeis.edu/. For more information on using your web space, read the document on
WebPublishing.
If you want to transfer a file from your computer to the server (upload), please
- Drag the file from your computer to the FTP window. Note that the window or subfolder will be highlighted when you drag to it.
Similarly, if you want to transfer a file from the server to your computer (download), please
- Drag the file or folder from the Fugu window to your computer.
As you perform an upload or download, a progress window will display the status of the transfer. If you wish to abort a transfer, click Cancel.
Bookmarks
You can save time by using bookmarks to store your login information for frequently used servers. To create a bookmark, to go the menu and select Bookmarks > New Bookmarks. Enter a name for the server, then enter the server address and your login information. If you wish, you can omit the password for security reasons. Click Save. To connect to a bookmarked server, select it from the Bookmarks menu or double-click it in the Bookmarks window.
Email and File Recovery
Email
The core IMAP servers keep a rolling archive of all email received in the last week. Any user can restore their previous week's email, or any given day's worth, by following these instructions.
Files
If you lose a file that was stored in your file storage space, it may be possible to recover it. Your UNet home directory is stored on a Network Appliance filer with integrated snapshot technology. Roughly every three hours (08:00, 11:00, 14:00, 17:00, 20:00, midnight), the home directory server saves an instantaneous snapshot of the file system. Assuming the file existed on UNet at the time one of these snapshots was taken, you have several days to retrieve it.
For Windows-based access, users have the ability to access a backup copy of their work directly from their Explorer window. When you are connected to your UNet home share and you have enabled "show hidden files and folders," you will now see a directory called ~snapshot. This folder contains directories pointing to several read-only copies of the last 4 or so weeks of your data. You can browse through all of these folders to access any of the data you may need to recover.
To recover a file copy it from the snapshot directory and paste it to the root of your UNet home.
Alternate Method
From the UNIX shell (or SFTP), type "cd .snapshot" (change to the directory whose name is a period, then "snapshot")
You will see something similar to this:
rcgraves@harpo ~/.snapshot $ ls
hourly.0/ hourly.3/ hourly.6/ hourly.9/ nightly.2/ weekly.0/ weekly.3/
hourly.1/ hourly.4/ hourly.7/ nightly.0/ nightly.3/ weekly.1/ weekly.4/
hourly.2/ hourly.5/ hourly.8/ nightly.1/ nightly.4/ weekly.2/
hourly.0 is the most recent sf the every-three-hours snapshots. hourly.1 is three hours before that, etc. we retain the ten most recent hourly snapshots plus five nightly midnight snapshots and five weekly (Sunday) night snapshots. You should never need to request a backup tape -- everything is online and available to you.
The .snapshot directory is not visible, not even with an ls -a or equivalent. But it is there if you cd explicitly.
If you created and deleted the file quickly and it was not on the server when a snapshot was taken, unfortunately there is no way to get the file.
Disk Quota
As of this writing, the default disk quota is 1000MB. In rare cases, additional space may be granted. To request additional space, explain the nature of your project to your Technology Coordinator or
operator@brandeis.edu.
Available Systems
Currently there are two systems. All machines provide access to the same files and run the same software. Individual shell servers may be down for maintenance from time to time; if so, pick another.
urchin.unet.brandeis.edu (Linux, 512MB RAM)
conch.unet.brandeis.edu (Linux, 512MB RAM)
The shell servers are designed for mail, news, and education. Long-running processes will be killed. Network daemons such as IRC bots are not allowed. Please be considerate to the other users of the system.
