IT and computing
Current students
Your home directory is simply a data storage area provided by the University for your files. This area is located on one of the University's fileservers and is backed up regularly, minimising your risk of losing vital information. You should use this area for the storage and retrieval of all your incidental personal files. It is automatically set up each time you log in to the Deakin network on a Phoenix desktop workstation, including those in the computer laboratories.
All students whose home directories have been moved to the Isilon file server have a 5GB quota set on their home directory. To check if your home directory has been moved to the Isilon file server, look at the path of your home directory in My Computer. If the path begins with cifs- then you are on an Isilon file server. If the path begins with home- or share- then you are not on an Isilon file server.
By assigning quotas no single user can consume enough space to cause an outage to the system or impact other users. To check how much used and free space you have on your home directory, go to My Computer, right click on your home directory and select Properties. The General tab will allow you to easily view used and free space.
Once you reach your quota you will be unable to write any more data or files to your home directory. You will most likely receive an error from the application you are using and will also immediately be sent an email, (to your Deakin email account), informing you that you have reached your quota and need to clean up files. You will also be sent a reminder email every 24 hours that you are over quota. If you reach your quota you should delete or archive to CD or DVD any no longer used or old files in your home directory.
Your home directory can be accessed from any computer laboratory workstation on any campus, from networked Student Residences, from your own wireless laptop on any campus, through your ISP and using Deakin's dial-in service.
ITSD take snapshots of home directories and file shares located on Isilon file servers. These snapshots allow users to restore files that may have been lost or corrupted without requiring intervention from ITSD support staff. Snapshots are only available to home directories and shares located on Isilon file servers. To find out if you are on an Isilon file server look at the path of your home directory in My Computer. If the path begins with cifs- then you are on an Isilon file server. If the path begins with home- or share- then you are not on an Isilon file server. To restore files to your home directory follow the instructions in the help sheet titled “Restoring files to your home directory” located on the ITSD publications website at www.deakin.edu.au/its/publications.
ITSD provides extra data storage facilities within its computer laboratories on all campuses.
Your own USB drive may be used in laboratory workstations. While many devices are automatically detected by the operating system, some require additional drivers and cannot be installed in the laboratories. ITSD recommends that you look for the XP Compatibility logo when purchasing USB drives.
All laboratory workstations (Windows and Macintosh) contain a CD writer.
All windows workstations in the computer laboratories have floppy disk drives for the storage of average size files.
Refer to the Managing your home directory (27KB) help sheet for more information.
