Slate high performance storage system: Terms of service

On this page:

1. Overview
- 1.1 General
- 1.2 Terms and definitions
2. Service description
- 2.1 Slate
3. Roles and responsibilities
- 3.1 Users
- 3.2 Service Provider
4. Data purge
5. Hours of support
6. Service retirement

Last updated: April 11, 2021

Related policies:

1. Overview

1.1 General

The Slate high performance storage system is Indiana University's user-focused implementation of Lustre.
This document provides guidelines for the use of Slate, which apply to all Users and the Service Provider.
This document is subject to change and may be modified at any time by UITS Research Technologies (UITS-RT).
Communication will be sent to all Slate Users when modifications to this document are made.
If Users fail to operate within the guidelines of the terms of service, access to Slate may be revoked.

1.2 Terms and definitions

Slate: The Slate file system
Users: All users of Slate; Users must agree to the terms outlined in this document
Service Provider: The High Performance File Systems (HPFS) group of UITS-RT that manages and provides support for Slate
Work Space: A directory created by the Service Provider for use by the requesting User; Work Spaces will have the following naming convention: /N/slate/username (username will be replaced by the IU username of the requesting User)
Initial Allocation: 800 gibibytes (GiB); 1 GiB is equal to 2³⁰ (1,073,741,824) bytes
Inode Quota: The number of objects a single user can create is limited to 6.4 million.
Double allocation: 1,600 GiB

2. Service description

2.1 Slate

Slate provides high performance persistent storage to users of IU's research supercomputers.
Slate is a shared resource, serving various types of users, and is designed to be used for computational activity by the High Performance Systems
Work Spaces are storage allocations created upon account creation, and are primarily intended to support the computational workflows for of individuals
Slate is operated and maintained by the Service Provider
With the exception of scheduled maintenance, Slate is generally available 24x7
Slate participates in the scheduled UITS-RT maintenance window from 7am to 7pm US/Eastern time zone, on the second Sunday of the month. Slate will typically be unavailable during the maintenance period
If Slate requires extended maintenance or unplanned emergency maintenance, notifications are posted to Status.IU.
Data stored on Slate are not backed up in any way, shape, or form by Research Technologies or any other entity in UITS.

3. Roles and responsibilities

3.1 Users

Users are not allowed to store all data classified as "IU Critical"; only the subset of critical data elements that satisfy the definition of PHI may be stored on Slate.
Users are allowed to store sensitive data, such as electronic protected health information (ePHI or HIPAA-protected data), on Slate in accordance with the following guidelines:
- Secure research data containing HIPAA-regulated PHI on high performance file systems at IU
- UITS Research Technologies systems and services for researchers working with data containing HIPAA-regulated PHI
Users will monitor and respond to email sent to their primary IU email address for official communications from UITS-RT about their work space.
Users of Slate are responsible for their use of all UITS resources under Appropriate Use of Information Technology Resources (IT-01). Specifically, as regards the use of Slate, Users must not store data which is illegal or protected under state and/or federal regulations. If a User becomes aware of data having been stored on Slate that violates this provision, that person shall contact it-incident@iu.edu.
Users acknowledge and agree that if a catastrophic disaster occurs, resulting in complete data loss, Work Space files will not be recoverable by the Service Provider. Users are responsible for backing up and/or archiving their data. Slate is not backed up nor archived by the Service Provider. Information about the IU Scholarly Data Archive, which Users can use to archive their data, can be found here: About the Scholarly Data Archive (SDA) at Indiana University.

3.2 Service Provider

The Service Provider will administer the Slate system using best practices for security, performance, and availability. In particular, strict adherence to the privacy provisions outlined in Privacy of Electronic Information and Information Technology Resources (IT-07) will be maintained as it is on all UITS systems.
The Service Provider will monitor all email to the address hpfs-admin@iu.edu for all operational communication from Slate Users concerning the Slate storage system and their use of the service.
The Service Provider will provide support to Slate Users on UITS-RT's recommended tool set for the storage and access of Work Space data.
The Service Provider reserves the right to suspend a User's access to the Work Space in Slate in the following non-exhaustive circumstances:
- As required by law or regulation
- As the Service Provider determines in its sole discretion is necessary to protect Slate from unauthorized access or damage to its content
- As the Service Provider determines in its sole discretion that the User's use of Slate is illegal, infringes upon the intellectual property rights of a third party, or otherwise violates the restrictions, representations, or warranties herein
- As the Service Provider determines in its sole discretion that the User's use of Slate may subject Indiana University to civil or criminal liability
- For the purpose of Emergency Problem Resolution as defined in section 4.a. of Privacy of Electronic Information and Information Technology Resources (IT-07).

4. Data Purge

There is no regular automated purge of Slate. UITS-RT may request a report on the User's use of the system and a list of work products (for example, papers, presentations, and/or software published). If the User doesn't respond to these requests, the Service Provider reserves the right to begin account termination.
When the User's account is disabled by UITS, the user's data residing on Slate will be removed by the Service Provider after 180 consecutive days of account deactivation.

5. Hours of support

The Service Provider will monitor all email to the address hpfs-admin@iu.edu for all operational communication Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm, with the exception of university holidays.
The Service Provider will respond to email inquiries within one business day.
During unexpected services outages, the Service Provider will work after business hours to the best of their ability to restore service.

6. Service retirement

UITS-RT reserves the right to retire the system at the end of the system's life cycle. Users will be provided at least 180 days notice before any decommissioning.