Stage your SDA files to be available when you want them

By default, when you retrieve files stored on the Indiana University Scholarly Data Archive (SDA), they are staged (copied from tape to a disk cache) first, and then transferred to you from the disk copies. Depending on system traffic, this can cause a delay in file transfer process.

Alternatively, you can stage your files to disk cache ahead of time, so they'll be ready to transfer when you want them. To do so, use the Hierarchical Storage Interface (HSI) stage command:

To run stage in the background, at the HSI prompt, enter (replace filename with the name of your file):
```
stage filename
```
To run the command in the foreground (if you want to wait for staging to finish), at the HSI prompt, enter (replace filename with the name of your file):
```
stage -w filename
```

Note:

If you leave your files staged on disk too long before retrieving them, an increase in system traffic may cause them to be removed from disk cache ("unstaged"). If this happens, you can still retrieve your files, but you may experience a delay while the files are restaged (copied again from tape to disk cache).

Important:

Files containing PHI must be encrypted when they are stored (at rest) and when they are transferred between networked systems (in transit). To ensure that files containing PHI are encrypted when they are stored, encrypt them before transferring them to storage. To ensure that files containing PHI remain encrypted during transit, use SFTP/SCP or the IU Globus Web App. For more, see Recommended tools for encrypting data containing HIPAA-regulated PHI.

For more about using HSI with an IU SDA account, see Use HSI to access your SDA account at IU. For help with HSI commands and options, see the HSI Reference Manual. If you have questions or need help staging files in your SDA account, email the UITS Research Storage team (store-admin@iu.edu).