File Storage Options

There are many choices where to store your files. You can store your files locally on the university computer that you use. You should store your confidential files in your My Documents folder or on your desktop. If you store them anywhere else on the computer, other users may have access to them. If you want to share files with other users of your computer, store your files in a folder other than the two mentioned above. It is the sole responsibility of the user to back up the files on their university issued computer.

Each employee also has access to G:,H:, and I: drives through our network. These drives reside in our secure data center. All network drives are backed up nightly for a month and monthly for a year. They are accessible on-campus from any computer. When off-campus you must use Cisco VPN to connect to these network drives.

A safer choice for the important data files on your computer is to store them on your H: drive, because it is backed up nightly. "H" stands for "Home" drive, meaning the employee's personal, or home, drive. It is only visible to the individual employee.

Another option for file storage is the G: drive. "G" stands for "Group" drive and can be used to share or store files within your department.

For files that need to be shared between departments or individuals in different departments, the I: drive should be used. "I" stands for "Internal Use" since it can be accessed by employees from various departments. Within the I: drive, we now have a Share-Deleted Monthly folder. Files deposited in this folder can be seen by all employees and can be used for transfers of files too large to be sent in an email and for notices. This folder is emptied monthly so it should not be used for backup purposes or long-term storage.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the CIS Help Desk at okm-helpdesk@okstate.edu or by calling ext. 4700.