Option Overview
G: network drive The G: network drive provides safe, secure data storage at UCT.

It is easy to use and highly accessible - since you can access it from any computer on the UCT network (provided you log in using your UCT credentials). When working from home, or any other internet-connected location, you can access your the G: network drive using NetStorage or UCT's Virtual Private Network (VPN).

A network drive is the most suitable location for important or confidential UCT documents as ICTS secures this drive and takes regular backups. So if you accidentally delete something that you shouldn't have, it can be restored - though this may come at a cost.
G: Other network drives
Shared, departmental network drives with space allocated to your faculty.

Folders on the network drives can be allocated to specific individuals or to teams, allowing a high degree of confidentiality, while still enabling collaboration between team members.		 If you have a specific data storage requirement over and above those shown here, please log a call with ICTS.

Specify the kind of storage you're looking for, an overview of what types of files you need to store, as well as an estimate of the amount of storage space you'll need.

We'll assess your requirement and investigate options to assist you. Depending on the solution provided, there may be charges associated with providing the storage.
External Hard Drives External hard drives are portable versions of the hard drive inside your computer. They're relatively inexpensive, offer fast data transfer speeds and are convenient and easy to use - plugging in to a USB port on your computer. The major advantage of an external drive lies is its portability, allowing you to store it away from the office so that if a theft or any other physical disaster occurs in your office, your data will be safe from harm.

While quick and easy to use, external hard drives should not be used as the only backup medium for important university data as they are susceptible to the same risks of fire, damage and theft. They are more suited for lower level importance documents or for personal use.

Important university documents should be stored on the appropriate network drive.

Note: When using an external hard drive, regularly check the contents to see that your data was backed up correctly. Human errors and technical glitches can happen without you even noticing, so it's better to pick up any potential problems early on, rather than finding out later - when you actually need to restore that data.

Hint: Some data enthusiasts feel that if you use an external hard drive for your backup, you should have a backup of that backup on another external hard drive and regularly rotate your usage between the two. They should also be stored separately from each other in fireproof safes. While this may be seen as overkill, it will certainly help you if your one external hard drives fails or is stolen.
Research storage
 		 With the amount of research data being generated at any given time, researchers often require large amounts of secure storage space to save their information. ICTS has set aside dedicated storage space on UCT's centralised storage that departments and research groups can use to store their large datasets. Static storage space is available at a cost per 1TB per month with a minimum period of 12 months (payment to be made upfront). Please contact the eResearch team via email at eresearch@uct.ac.za.
Cloud storage Google Drive OneDrive for Business

Store your documents and media files in one location online, or share them with colleagues, students and contacts.

This offering is available to

  • Staff members: until you leave UCT
  • Students: until you graduate

Google Drive is part of the Google Workspace package.

OneDrive allows you to save all your files and folders in one central location online. You can then access your data no matter where you are from your computer, laptop or mobile device.

You are allocated storage space, which is available to

  • Staff members: until you leave UCT
  • Students: until you graduate
  1. Navigate to http://portal.office.com/ and enter your student/staffnumber@wf.uct.ac.za in the Sign in field and click Next. 
  2. Enter your UCT password and click Sign In. 
  3. Click OneDrive to access your online storage.

Alternatively, you can set up the OneDrive for Business desktop application on your machine.
Terms and conditions of use
It is important to note that the information that you save in these solutions is owned by the university. All data is secure and private, but is not backed up. Each application has its own security measures in place to ensure that your data remains safe.

We recommend that you continue to save confidential information, such as patient files and financial statements, in a secure location on the UCT network as this information is regularly backed up and can be restored if accidently deleted. UCT does not back up the information on either the Google or Microsoft solutions. Should you delete a file it will be saved in the Deleted items folder for 25 days before being permanently purged.