Isilon HOME Directory Data Cleanup

Dear CRC Users,

In an effort to further develop our user data retention policies and clean up space on the isilon file storage system currently housing user home directories (/ihome), we have compiled a list of CRC user accounts that no longer have valid Pitt credentials with the intention of archiving to the iXSystems file system for a retention period of 1 year.

These users no longer have access to CRC resources, and have not requested sponsored Pitt credentials to re-enable that capacity.

The data in these locations have also not been moved to their sponsoring PI’s project data since their loss of access.

Archiving Plan

1. Backup home directories to an admin accessible archive location on /ix.

This step has already been performed for many users. It provides an initial copy of their entire home directory. No action is required during this step.

2. Rename home directory on ihome to hidden dotfile directory (eg. /ihome/sam/nlc60 -> /ihome/sam/.nlc60) 

This gives PI’s and other users the opportunity to detect any hardcoded references to data in these locations that may be in use by their current workflows.

Please move this data to a project storage location and adjust your workflows accordingly, or report it to us so we can move it somewhere where it can continue to be used.

3. Perform a final sync to the archive location and delete the home directory from the isilon. 

A final sync is performed to make sure the most recent instance of the directory is fully represented in the archive.

It is then deleted from /ihome but can be restored to a sponsoring PI’s project data location at their request.

Generally, this is how the team intends to handle requests for sponsored user account “deletion” moving forward.

If you have any questions about this, please submit a ticket.

Thank you,

The CRC Team