Our Data Ecosystem: Adapting to a Changing Technology Landscape

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Our Data Ecosystem

Adapting to a changing technology landscape.

Latest News

  • On June 17, 2026, the UO will start deleting Canvas courses more than five years old and Panopto videos unviewed in five years. 

Learn more about data storage

Data Storage Transformation

The University of Oregon is in the midst of a data storage transformation.

Information Services is taking a comprehensive approach to modernizing storage services, in collaboration with our UO partners—delivering value today while building future-ready solutions for the university.

Our goals:

  • Optimize UO’s suite of storage services based on university needs.
  • Support responsible data management practices across the institution.
  • Enhance compliance with data retention policies.
  • Improve vendor management and streamline contract negotiations to mitigate rising costs.

Beginning in 2025, we plan to launch new services, tune existing services, improve guidance, and stretch our funding dollars to meet critical needs. Our roadmap includes the following:

  • Launch new large-scale research storage and related services.
  • Enhance archival storage offerings.
  • Assess all UO software-as-service storage platforms — Zoom, Dropbox, Microsoft 365, Canvas, and Panopto — then optimize usage and costs as needed.

As this work progresses, we’ll use this webpage to share updates with the UO community.

 

Data Storage Services

Learn more about the UO's data storage services and related changes. We'll provide details for each service as the storage optimization work progresses.

You're responsible for using approved storage locations for the sensitivity of data you handle. Learn more about data security and records management below.

Dropbox
  • Status: Renewed
    • Renewed through March 2028.
    • Service changes take effect July 1, 2025.
  • Service Description
    • Secure cloud storage and sharing of files across devices.
    • Subsidized by Information Services and the Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation.
  • Space and Costs
    • 2 TB of individual space for free, with additional storage available for a fee.
    • Dropbox team spaces (available upon request) follow the same model.
    • Cost of extra storage: $40 per TB per year (rate reviewed annually).
    • Additional storage billed in 1 TB increments.
  • Availability
    • Faculty, Officer of Administration (Administrative Faculty), Staff, Graduate Employee.
    • Research Groups.
    • Departments.
    • Notes:
      • Students (other than GEs) will soon be phased out of Dropbox. An exception process is under development to accommodate specific research and academic needs. We’ll provide details in the coming months.
      • Information Services will also soon contact current Dropbox users with the following affiliations about next steps: Campus Associate, Courtesy, Emerit, Student Employee, Temporary Employee, Trustee.
  • Purpose
    • Easy collaboration and file sharing with anyone.
    • Storage of large files, such as videos.
    • Supports version history and file recovery.
    • Research and scholarship storage, backups, and archive.
Large-Scale Research Storage
  • Status: Available Now
    • Dedicated on-premises storage to support UO research.
  • Service Description
    • Secure, low-cost storage for researchers.
    • Seamless integration with the Talapas High-Performance Computing (HPC) cluster.
    • High-speed data transfer supported via Globus.
    • Subsidized by OVPRI and Information Services to provide affordable access.
  • Space and Costs
    • Purchase in 1 TB increments at $35 per TB per year.
    • New orders prorated based on purchase date.
  • Availability
    • Research groups.
  • Purpose
    • Research data storage, backups, and archiving.
    • Integration with Talapas for active computation workflows.
    • High-performance transfers between institutions via Globus.
    • Suitable for large instrument datasets (such as fMRI, genomics, and metabolomics).
  • Important Notes
    • Storage is not backed up and should be treated as one copy of the data.
Globus Data Transfer Software
  • Status: New Capability
    • Recently enhanced with greater security and self-service capabilities.
  • Service Description
    • Secure web-based software that lets researchers move, share, and discover data through a single interface, no matter where the data lives.
    • Subsidized by Information Services and a strategic UO investment.
  • Cost
    • Centrally funded.
  • Availability
    • Faculty, Research Staff.
  • Purpose
    • Transferring large files between storage platforms, including to and from the large-scale research storage.
AWS Cloud Storage
  • Status: Available Now
    • Enterprise-level access to AWS storage services through UO’s cloud framework.
  • Service Description
    • Flexible, pay-as-you-go cloud storage suitable for enterprise, research, and instructional needs.
    • Multiple storage classes to balance cost and access speed.
    • Integrated with UO’s AWS environment, with security and compliance guardrails configured by Information Services.
  • Space and Costs
    • Amazon S3 Standard: General-purpose object storage for frequently accessed data.
      • Cost: About $0.023 per GB per month as per AWS.
    • Amazon S3 Glacier: Low-cost storage for infrequently accessed data.
      • Cost: About $0.004 per GB per month as per AWS.
    • Amazon S3 Glacier Deep Archive: Archival storage option for long-term retention.
      • Cost: About $0.00099 per GB per month as per AWS.
    • Data transfer and retrieval fees may apply. Please see AWS S3 Pricing for details.
  • Availability
    • Faculty.
    • Research groups.
    • Departments.
  • Purpose
    • Store large datasets with scalable, secure object storage.
    • Enable automated workflows through AWS-native services (such as Lambda and Step Functions).
    • Retain archival datasets at low cost with Glacier and Deep Archive.
    • Share or transfer data securely across institutions or collaborators worldwide. 
Zoom Cloud Storage (recordings and transcripts)
  • Status: Currently Available.
    • New auto-deletion setting will take effect November 24, 2025.
    • All recordings and transcripts more than 90 days old will move to the Zoom trash, where they can be recovered.
    • After 30 days in the trash, they’ll be automatically and permanently deleted.
    • From that point on, all recordings and transcripts will go through that process as they reach 90 days old.
    • Learn more about Zoom Recording and Transcript Auto-deletion.
  • Service Description
    • Short-term storage, viewing, and downloading of Zoom recordings through the Zoom web portal.
  • Space and Costs
    • Centrally funded.
  • Availability
    • Faculty, Officer of Administration (Administrative Faculty), Staff, Temporary Employee, Graduate Employee, Campus Associate, Courtesy, Emerit, Trustee.
    • Note: Nearly all UO affiliations get Zoom access. Students and student employees can save recordings to a computer but can’t record to the Zoom cloud.
  • Purpose
Canvas
  • Status: Currently Available.
  • Service Description
    • Storage of course curriculum, teaching materials, and other records to support active delivery of for-credit (CRN) courses and related records retention.
  • Costs
    • Centrally funded.
  • Availability
    • Canvas users with the “teacher” role in one or more Canvas courses.
  • Purpose
Panopto
  • Status: Currently Available.
    • New auto-deletion setting will take effect June 17, 2026.
    • Videos in Panopto archive storage that haven’t been viewed in five years will be permanently deleted.
    • Panopto videos already move automatically from “Ready to view” to “Archived” two years after their last viewing. They’ll spend another three years in archive storage before deletion.
    • Auto-deletion following the same rule will then continue on a daily basis.
    • Learn more about Canvas Course and Panopto Video Auto-deletion.
  • Service Description
    • Ready-to-view and archived storage of course-related videos via Canvas integration.
    • Accessible only through Panopto integration with Canvas courses on a per-course basis.
  • Space and Costs
    • Centrally funded.
  • Availability
    • Canvas users with the “teacher” role in one or more Canvas courses.
  • Purpose
    • Intended for storing and serving video content — such as lectures or tutorials — that may be reused in future courses. (Recordings in which students can be identified by face or name can't be reused in future teaching due to FERPA protections.)
    • Short-term and medium-term use only.
    • Other services should be used for longer-term storage of videos, such as for professional portfolios. Learn more about Canvas Course and Panopto Video Auto-deletion.
Microsoft Storage (OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams)

Details coming soon.

More Information

Data Security and Records Management

UO employees are responsible for being aware of the sensitivity of the data they handle, for using approved storage locations that support that policy, and for following other controls associated with different classes of data. The Information Security Office is available to help you identify secure and compliant solutions. (Some UO cybersecurity reference pages require a Duck ID login.)

Before deleting files or other data, or moving them out of UO systems, employees should be aware of their recordkeeping responsibilities as explained in the short video Records and Our Shared Responsibilities from University Records Management.

Getting Help