Managing Your Files
On this page
File storage is amazingly cheap. Most computers come with gigabytes of storage now, and you can easily add more storage with external disk drives, flash memory cards, DVDs, and CDs.
The UW provides large amounts of storage to UW faculty, staff, and students for email, Web pages, group projects, or whatever other use supports your work and education. This page provides a roadmap to file management resources the UW offers.
Storage spaces available to you
The diagram below summarizes where you might have files:
You may have additional storage spaces.
- You may have a directory for streaming media.
- Departments and projects may "mount" additional storage spaces on your computer. They look like just another folder but are actually located elsewhere on the network.
- If your computer is maintained by the Nebula service, you can arrange for remote storage spaces to be mounted on your desktop.
| Location | Storage space | How to access | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| On your computer | On the computer hard disk | ||
| On a USB storage device, flash card, or memory card | Most plug in to the USB port | ||
| On a departmental file server | Usually mounted on your desktop (looks like a folder) | Configured and managed by your computer support staff or by Nebula | |
| In your email folders | Depending on the email program you use, your messages may be on the central or departmental email servers. Some email client programs can store folders of messages on your computer | Access with your email client program (Outlook Express, Pine, WebPine, etc.) | Email messages and files attached to them may only be accessed using an email client program such as Pine, WebPine, Outlook Express, or Outlook. |
| On UW central computers and Web servers | The UW provides computers and Web servers for all students, faculty, and staff to use. Faculty and staff access the computers and servers through an account on Homer. Students use Dante. Placing a file in the "public_html" directory of your Homer or Dante account puts it on your Web site. Some students also have a "student_html" directory that connects to their Web site. |
You have two choices:
|
You can turn on your access to the central computer and server systems through the Manage your UW NetID Resources site. Putting files on your Web site is an excellent way to make them available to other people on the Internet, wherever they are. |
| WebFiles is a new storage system for all students, faculty, and staff. You can access WebFiles from a Web browser or connect directly from your desktop. |
|
You can turn on your access to the WebFiles system through the Manage your UW NetID Resources site. Connecting directly from your desktop lets you delete, rename, copy, or move files and folders in WebFiles as if they were on your computers hard drive. | |
| In Catalyst Tools | ShareSpaces lets you easily share files online, supports group work, and track file versions all while you control who has access. | Log in to ShareSpaces and create a space. | ShareSpaces allows you to search for files and file content and receive notification of changes. |
| In a wiki or content management system (CMS) | Some departments are running wiki programs such as SharePoint, Confluence or content management systems such as Plone or Drupal to which files can be uploaded and in which pages can be created. | Access to your department's wiki or CMS is usually provided by your local computer support staff. | Wikis and CMSs usually have their own independent storage space, although they may allow linking to pages and files elsewhere on the Internet. |
Frequently asked questions
- I lost my file! How can I find it?
If you think it is somewhere on the local storage spaces of your computer, try the Start->Search tool in Windows or the Spotlight program on Macs. Keep in mind that neither tool can find files on external drives of flash cards unless they are plugged in at the time of the search. To find files in your UW central storage spaces, use FileManager's search function. - How much space do I have?
You can use the Your Usage of UW Central Storage Space tool to track how much storage space you are using for your email and on the central storage spaces (including your Web space but not your WebFiles space). Catalyst File Manager shows percentage of available space for your central storage space and your WebFiles space.
