Wikier

Your files on the NTNU server

Students and employees at NTNU may save files to NTNU's servers.

Norsk versjon - hjemmeområde - dine mapper

Topic page about IT services | Pages labeled with home directory

Advantages of using the NTNU server for your files

  • You can have access to your files no matter which computer you are using at NTNU. If you are not physically at the university, you can access your files by connecting to the VPN.
  • If you accidently delete or damage files that are stored in your area of the NTNU server, contact Orakel Support Services, who might be able to access a backup of earlier versions of your lost files.

Where is your home directory?

The files you store in this area are actually kept on a central server at NTNU, and your data are sent to a central computer for storage. Your home directory is your personal space, and is protected by your password. No one else has access to your files but you. To open your home directory from a Windows machine open the Start Menu and click on  My computer (Start - Min datamaskin). A window similar to the one below will appear.

The station that will come up will vary from computer room to computer room, and how your machine is set up. The area is divided into two sections. The left hand section of the screen shows you where you are on the computer, while the right side shows what is found in the section that is marked. Everything is located under  or My Computer (Min Datamaskin).

  • Local disk C(Lokal Disk C)​: This is the hard drive, or the storage device on the machine that you are working on. In a computer study room, you shouldn't save your files on the C drive, because you will then need to go back to that exact computer to get your files or to work with them, and other people will also have access to them. Some computers do not have a C drive.
  • DVD/CD-RW drive D: This is the CD/DVD player, and is often designated by an icon of a CD. If the computer has several CD or DVD players, there will be more than one CD icon.
  • M/Home directory(Hjemmeområde): Data in this catalogue is not physically on the computer that you are working on, but is found on a central server.

What kind of information may i save on the NTNU server?

Visit the page Data storage guide for an overview of what you can store in different storage services and storage media.

Saving data/files

To save files or documents to your home directory click File in the toolbar and press Save to... (Lagre som..)Locate your home directory in the window similar to the image below and press Save. Alternatively you can save files to the home directory by clicking them and dragging them to the folder where you wish to save them.

Connecting manually

If you don't find your home directory under My Computer (Min datamaskin), this probably means that it hasn't been connected to the computer. If your're using one of NTNUs computers, try restarting your computer. You can also connect manually. It's not a bad idea to learn how to do this because some computer work rooms are set up so that your home directory is not connected automatically when you log on. Here are step-by-step directions:

Disk space allocation in your home directory

To ensure that all students have adequate space to save their files, email and home pages, NTNU has established a disk space allocation, which is currently 10 GB.

If you need additional disk space for projects or other work-related efforts, you can apply for a group area from the Enkel samhandling. Your department or faculty is required to give you access to the additional space you need to work on your projects, master's thesis or PhD dissertation.

How does the disk allocation work?

If you have saved more than 10 GB of data in your home directory, you will not be able to store additional data on it. You will be sent an email if you have exceeded the allocation, which will also tell you how much data you would have to delete. You must delete the files yourself to bring your stored files to an amount that is under your allocation, which will then give you the ability to store files in your directory again.

How much disk space am I using?

You can check how much space you are currently using by opening My Computer (Min datamaskin) and clicking the home directory once.

You can check to see how much disk space you are using by logging into a Unix machine (for example, by using SSH towards login.stud.ntnu.no, and writing: diskkvote when logged in. You will then get a list of how much disk space you have and how much you have stored in the area. You can also write: diskusage to get a good overview of how much data you have stored and in which catalogues.

Expanded disk space allotment

All students initially have access to the same amount of disk space. If you need more space, you can send an email to Orakeltjenesten where you explain why and for how long you need more disk space. Expanded disk space will only be awarded for short period and only for use in association with academic work.

NTNU IT will award expanded disk space in accordance with agreements with professors, faculties and departments. If you aren't given expanded disk space, contact your department, faculty or professor for more information about their specific agreement with the IT department.

Deletion of home directories

Data that is in your home directory is automatically deleted six months after you no longer have access to NTNU's computer services. If you do not want your files on the NTNU servers after you have completed your studies at the university, you can delete them in the following way:

Graphical interface

You can either log on from a PC in a computer work area on campus, and go to your home directors, or you can connect to your home directories from your own computer. You can find good descriptions of how to do this from the Connecting manually section above.

Your home directories are found at sambaad.stud.ntnu.no\username, while your home page is found at webedit.ntnu.no\username. If you want to delete EVERYTHING, you have to remember to show hidden files and folders. To see hidden files and folders in Windows, visit this page. For Mac OS X, see this web page, as one example. In Unix/Linux you can usually press Ctrl + E in the folder where you want to see the hidden folders and files. The same keystrokes work to reset this choice.

Make certain that you don't delete files before you have made a copy of whatever it is that you want to keep. Orakel Support Services can help you make a copy of your home directories. Bring a blank DVD, a USB memory stick or an external hard drive to the Orakel offices at Gløshaugen or Dragvoll.

Command-based interface

  • Log in towards login.stud.ntnu.no via SSH using Terminal (Mac and Linux) or an interface such as Putty (Windows).

The following commands will cause all of your files to be deleted:

rm -Rf /public_html and press enter.

Then type:

rm -Rf / and press enter.

All your files in your home directory and your home pages will now be deleted. Just to be clear, EVERYTHING will be deleted!

Contact

Orakel Support Services can help if you have questions or if you encounter difficulties.