Information on the use of the Nextcloud at the Department of Computer Science

Date: 06/25/2020

The Nextcloud (fbicloud) serves as data storage and data synchronization service for the Department of Informatics at the UHH and is operated by the Informatics Computing Centre (IRZ). It thus represents a supplement to the storage service (user and group directories) in the department's local network.

Contact

Contact: David Mosteller, Reinhard Zierke, Andreas Heymann
Email: fbicloud"AT"informatik.uni-hamburg.de

users

The user group is mainly focused on the employees of the department. This includes users in administration as well as employees in research. Doctoral candidates should also be given access. Students are primarily not included, since the departmental student council already has an offer for this target group. On application, for example for project work or student assistants, access can be granted (for a limited period).

External persons can also be granted (limited) access on application if they are pursuing tasks for the department in a broader sense. This includes, for example, the preparation of reports on theses carried out at the department or the participation in research projects at the Department of Informatics

Applications should be sent by email to: fbicloud"AT"informatik.uni-hamburg.de

User Privileges

The fbicloud basically knows two types of users: registered users and those who have been granted access dedicated to a specific share. The identification of all employees is automatically integrated from the central user administration of the department. Other users can be given a local ID for projects of longer duration, or releases can be created for specific resources that do not grant regular user privileges.

All registered users are granted a standard quota of 5GB. An extension of the quota can be requested.

Group directories are set up by the IRZ with a standard quota of 10GB upon request. In justified cases, more quota can be granted. First of all, it is important to limit the quota so that the use of group directories is monitored and, if necessary, an advisory service can be provided.

Extensions

The functionality of the Nextcloud can be extended by a variety of plugins.

Installed extensions

• Calendar (with CalDAV synchronization)
• OnlyOffice (Collaborative office integration)
• Tasks (task management)

If you see the need for additional extensions, please feel free to contact us at fbicloud"AT"informatik.uni-hamburg.de. Please understand that we cannot consider all wishes, but have to weigh up the benefits against the effort for maintenance, the risks of security issues and the impact on the user experience (product maturity).

Client Restriction

We urgently request that Nextcloud directories are not created in directories that are integrated from the Informatics network via network protocols. Please create Nextcloud directories exclusively in the local file system of your computer.

The IRZ reserves the right to take measures to restrict the use of individual or possibly all directories if this leads to problems.

Backup

The backup concept provides the following aspects for the restorability of individual user directories. The directories are stored in an hourly (incremental) snapshot of the data directory. One of these snapshots is kept daily for a period of 14 days. The database is backed up daily so that the associated user data and shares are also available on a daily basis for 14 days. The database cannot be partially restored for technical reasons. The restoration of a single user directory is therefore accompanied by a (partial) loss of the user's metadata and shares. It is therefore necessary to react promptly in case of loss of data.

Please send requests for the restoration of accidentally deleted data to fbicloud"AT"informatik.uni-hamburg.de.