data management Archives

World Backup Day is March 31^st, 2023. It’s a great day to remind ourselves of the importance of backing up personal and professional data. From family photos to important presentations, you’ve likely felt the pain of forgetting to do backups.

“Failure is Always an Option” – Adam Savage

Whether you are a MythBuster or a software developer, there is no shortage of issues that can result in data loss. Software bugs, malware, environmental factors, accidental deletion. Without a robust backup solution, your data is constantly at risk. There are several types of backup options that can mitigate this risk. Let’s take a look at a few of these that can help maintain access to your important files no matter what gets thrown your way.

3-2-1… Countdown for Successful Data Protection

Having one backup copy of your critical work data is sometimes not enough. Let’s assume you back up your files or your application data to an external drive, and keep this drive in your home office or work desk. If your laptop fails, you have a backup copy for immediate recovery. If a water pipe bursts in your home, or there’s an issue at your desk onsite, then your computer and the external drive backup will likely be destroyed. This is a good reason to keep at least two copies of your critical data with one copy residing in an offsite location. Examples of offsite locations include simply saving to the cloud or even using an infrastructure datacenter whose specialty is housing backup data.

OneDrive – One terrific offsite solution is Microsoft’s OneDrive. If you have a Microsoft 365 subscription, you may have access to 1 TB or terabyte of OneDrive cloud storage. OneDrive can be used to backup specific data but can also be set up to backup all your local folders such as documents, downloads, and desktop automatically. This “set it and forget it” configuration means your data is stored in the cloud in the event something happens to your PC. This approach has the added benefit of giving you access to your files anytime and anywhere. For more information, simply access Microsoft’s OneDrive backup instructions online.

Even with the redundancy offered by a large company such as Microsoft, it’s a good idea to backup your cloud data and email to a third-party provider for even more offsite availability. Whether you are a web developer at a federal agency or a systems administrator at a business like LCG, our data easily climbs into multiple terabytes of cloud data. Having a robust strategy is critical to personal and business success.

Remember – your backup strategy is only successful when implemented, so save your work today.

Hold on let me go save this…

Daniel Trencher is the Systems Administrator in IT and Network Support at LCG

A new NIH Data Management & Sharing Policy will go into effect January 25, 2023. While the focus is on the new responsibilities of researchers, the policy will have an impact on NIH Chief Information Officers (CIOs). Here is what CIOs need to know.

Scientific data is sufficient quality to validate and replicate research findings, regardless of usage in support of scholarly publications.

First, the policy applies to all research, funded or conducted in whole or in part by NIH, that results in the generation of scientific data.”¹

Investigators and institutions are required to:

Plan and budget for managing and sharing scientific data generated by NIH funded research.

Prepare and submit a Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Plan during the funding application process.

Comply with the approved DMS Plan.

For CIOs, the policy triggers new procedures and oversight on an Institute or Center (IC) basis for both extramural and intramural research. CIOs should expect new queries from researchers about available repositories for data sharing. In addition, proactive communication about access and security considerations will prevent future challenges.

Data Management and Sharing Plans

Each NIH Intramural Research Program (IRP) determines the procedures for submitting and managing DMS Plans. CIOs should engage with the appropriate IRP offices to advise and assist.

CIOs supporting extramural research grant application and funding systems will need to add associated features and functionality to capture and store DMS Plans.

Supplemental policy guidance provides details about expected contents for DMS Plans and recommends a length of two pages or less.² Exhibit 1 summarizes the DMS Plan content expectations.

Exhibit 1. Summary of Data Management and Sharing Plan Content Elements

Element	Description
Data Type	Summarize data types and amount, may describe data modality, level of aggregation, degree of data processing Describe scientific data planned for preservation and sharing with reasoning behind ethical, legal, and technical factor decisions Brief list of metadata, other relevant data, and associated documentations planned for facilitating scientific data interpretation
Related Tools, Software and/or Code	Identify any specialized tools needed to access or manipulate the shared scientific data for replication or reuse
Standards	Describe planned standards for application to scientific data and metadata, for example, data formats, data dictionaries, data identifiers, definitions, unique identifiers, and other data documentation
Data Preservation, Access, and Associated Timelines	Describe plan and timeline for: Name of repository identified for scientific data and metadata archivalHow the scientific data will be findable and identifiableWhen, and for how long, the scientific data will be available
Access, Distribution, or Reuse Considerations	Identify applicable considerations for subsequent access, distribution, or reuse related to informed consent, privacy and confidentiality protections, control of data derived from humans, regulatory or policy restrictions, other potential limitations
Oversight of Data Management and Sharing	Identify institutional oversight roles and responsibilities for monitoring and managing compliance with the documented plan

References

1. Research Covered Under the Data Management & Sharing Policy | Data Sharing. Accessed October 18, 2022. https://sharing.nih.gov/data-management-and-sharing-policy/about-data-management-and-sharing-policy/research-covered-under-the-data-management-sharing-policy

2. Writing a Data Management & Sharing Plan | Data Sharing. Accessed December 14, 2022. https://sharing.nih.gov/data-management-and-sharing-policy/planning-and-budgeting-for-data-management-and-sharing/writing-a-data-management-and-sharing-plan#elements-to-include-in-a-data-management-and-sharing-plan

Tag: data management

Back It Up – The Importance of Redundancy