Academic Computing Services

Reading University Digital Technology Services -DTS

General conditions for using DTS services on and off campus.

For commonly asked questions on using DTS systems see the Network Security FAQ

DTS storage for research is based on Unix and is available via Windows or Linux operating systems.

This is maintained to meet The University standards on data preservation and digital security compliance.

Research storage is managed by the Academic Research Computing Team -ARC.

The ARC website describes the teams activities, and gives more information on storage and how to access research resources.

Research Data Storage and Unix Home Directories

This is the standard means of storing research data, whether it be direct storage, or indirect through a virtual machine on the Reading Research Cloud

The user has 3 tiers of support which reflect the cost of preserving data in terms of backups.

A detailed breakdown of costs and service can be found on the Research Data Storage and Unix Home Directories page.

The Reading Academic Computing Cluster (RACC)

The RACC is a Linux cluster which provides resources for interactive research computing and batch job submissions for staff and students of the University of Reading. It is mainly used for processing very large amounts of data which is to large to store in Home directories and other sources.

A comprehensive guide to it’s use can be found on the Academic Computing Cluster User’s Guide

The ARC GitLab repository

The GitLab repository offers free storage (up to 10gb) for the backup of files. The service is designed to track changes to files that are regularly modified such as a program or script.

This service can hold unchanging data but it is not recommended, however projects can hold static files such as images and documents.

More information can be found on the ARC GitLab pages

WordPress websites

The ARC team host and maintain a WordPress site at research.reading.ac.uk.
Sites are limited to 10Gb, but are free to researchers.

To obtain a site, a ticket should be put in, and name the users for the site as well as the site name.

Note: if web design work is needed, this is chargeable at £385 a day, and should be discussed with the Business Partner before application.
ARC does undertake design work on research.reading, and a Personal Project Proposal Form should be completed before any work can commence.

More information can be found on the ARC website under WordPress

CPanel Sites

cPanel is a web hosting platform for static or dynamic pages mainly written in PHP with a local MySQL database.

Full setup and operation instructions can be found on the page https://research.reading.ac.uk/act/knowledgebase/php-web-hosting-on-cpanel/