Store Files to the Network

This document describes how CUA students can use the network to store their files.

(CUA faculty and staff must store file pertaining to university business only on CUA network drives as specified by their department. University business files generally must not be stored on local hard drives or removeable media.)

Overview

Limited storage space is available on University servers for students under a directory called "My Files."  This space is secured, virus protected, and automatically backed up by the University.

Students also may store files their Cardinal Mail account, with some restrictions on type and size of files.

You should also keep a copy of your important personal data on removeable media such as a USB memory stick or external hard drive and store the drive securely except when in immediate use.

Important note about Lab Computers

It is very important that you do NOT store data on the computers located in the computer classrooms or user labs.  These computers are "wiped clean" on a regular basis.  Bring your own removable storage (e.g., USB memory stick) or store your work in your "My Files" directory or Cardinal Mail account (see below).

Saving Files to "My Files"

1. Browse to home.cua.edu.
   
   
2. Log on with your CUA network logon account username and password.
   
   
3. Click on "My Files" from the menu on the left.
   
   
4. Click on the "Browse" button.
   
   
5. Select the file you want to save, and click "Open".
   
   
6. Click "Add file".

The files that you save via "My Files" are accessible to you from anywhere you can access the Internet as long as you are an active student.

Your "M: Drive"

You may hear the term "M: drive" used to refer to your personal storage space.  This is the same directory that you access through home.cua.edu.  When you log into a lab computer on campus, this directory becomes available to you under My Computer as a drive labeled "M".   While you can access your files this way, the preferred method is through home.cua.edu, as that is available to you from any Web-enabled browser.  If your M drive does not automatically map, you can do it manually by following these instructions.

Saving Files to Cardinal Mail

1. Log onto your Cardinal Mail account.
   
   
2. Click on "Documents" in the upper left corner of the page.
   
   
3. Click "Upload". Take note of the type and size of files that you can upload.
   
   
4. Click "Browse" to find the file on your local computer and click Open. Or specify the URL of the file. Optionally provide a new name for the file.
   
   
5. Click "Upload File".

The files that you save in Cardinal Mail are accessible to you from anywhere you can access the Internet as long as you retain a Cardinal Mail account.

Storing additional data

The storage space on My Files is limited because it is shared among all members of the CUA community--you may store up to 1 GB in My Files (M: drive). If you exceed the 1 GB allocated space, attempts to save files will fail.

The storage space for e-mail and files for each student on Cardinal Mail is 7 GB. There is a size limit per file, and only certain types of files may be stored.

If you have the need to store additional personal data that you can carry with you, please consider purchasing a USB memory device. Note, however, that you should treat this device like your wallet--if you lose it, others may be able to access the data that it contains.

For storing data that you access infrequently, you can burn the files to writeable CD or DVD media, or use an external hard drive. This is a very good way to make periodic backups of your data files that may reside on your personally owned computer. (Files stored on My Files are backed up automatically.)