Here are the different ways to store your documents at EPFL
The service desk will be happy to direct you to the right contact person.
Cloud storage
M365
This service is hosted in Switzerland by Microsoft. You can use SharePoint Online and OneDrive to securely store, organize, share and access information from any device. All you need is a web browser. It is primarily designed for teams, EPFL units or projects to manage administrative documents. You need to be accredited at EPFL to access it.
Google Drive
Non-confidential documents only. This service is hosted by Google, and requires an EPFL email address for access. This solution offers a personal (my drive) or team (Shared drive) space for managing scientific and other documents. A quota of 20 GB per user will be introduced in 2023, following Google’s announcement that it will end its unlimited and free offer for Education.
SWITCHDrive
This service is hosted by SWITCH (in Switzerland), and requires a SWITCH edu-ID account for access. This solution offers a personal space. SWITCHDrive can be used to store confidential documents.
Administrative data storage at EPFL
NAS
Based on the IT Department’s file storage service and hosted on the EPFL site, this solution enables confidential documents to be stored and shared internally. The Webdav protocol can be activated for web access.
WordPress
Only for non-confidential documents linked to a WordPress page and for public access.
WordPress Inside
Only for non-confidential documents linked to a WordPress intranet page and for restricted access.
Research data storage
C4Science
c4science is a platform for co-creation, curation and code sharing. This platform includes a version management system, authentication common to all Swiss universities for local and external collaborators, collaboration (wikis, bug tracking, etc.), and a code testing system (continuous integration).
ACOUA, Academic Output Archive
ACOUA is reserved for datasets that have led to publications, and requires the signature of a specific agreement for laboratories or projects wishing to start using the service. Data must be prepared for archiving, so remember to plan your requests in advance to make the process as smooth as possible. Datasets can be up to 10 TB in size, with restricted access.
Zenodo
Non-confidential files only. Zenodo is a data repository developed by CERN, allowing the distribution of datasets up to 50 GB, free of charge. Free access is encouraged, but you can also restrict it if necessary. Special quality criteria are required for datasets from the EPFL community.
High-performance storage for units
VPO-SI object storage service
The object storage service is based on a centralized hosting solution accessible from all the school’s IT network and from outside via a virtual private network (VPN). This service is available to the school’s central services and faculties. The service is called SaaS (Storage as a Service) and is one of VP0-SI’s XaaS (Anything as a Service) offerings. The main purpose of the service is to enable the storage of large data sets, such as archiving and backups. It is not suitable for OLTP applications.
RCP – Reasearch Computing Platform
The RCP Cluster offers a scalable service consisting of a set of shared compute services. These computing services are currently deployed in the new Datacenter DC2020 and follow a similar model to the IC Cluster or the STI Cluster (Hardware-as-a-Service, ML-oriented Container-as-a-Service). These services are available to all EPFL research units, including all laboratories, centers and platforms.
Storage in Faculties, Colleges and Centers
Almost all Faculties, Colleges and Centers also offer high-performance storage. Please contact your local IT support for details.
Comparison of the different solutions
| Fonctionnalités | Google Drive | M365 | SWITCHDrive | NAS | INSIDE WordPress |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Confidential documents | no | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Group space | yes | yes | no | yes | yes |
| Quota | 20 Gb | 1 Tb | 50 Gb | 1 Tb | no |
| Search function | yes | yes | yes | no | no |
| Notification of actions | yes | yes | yes | no | no |
| Version Management | yes | yes | no | no | no |
| Web Client | yes | yes | yes | no | yes |
| Permission management | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| External access to EPFL | yes | no | yes | no | no |
| Student access | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Access to a group | yes | yes | no | yes | yes |
| Limited access to EPFL | yes | yes | no | yes | yes |
| Everybody access | yes | no | yes | yes | no |