Custom Storage - Terms of Service

This document describes the terms of service for DoIT's Custom Storage service offering.

Terms of Service

  1. Service Provider:

    University of Wisconsin, Division of Information Technology, System Engineering and Operations, Systems Engineering  and Shared Computing Services groups.

  2. Services Provided:
    1. Storage
      1. Custom storage is intended to be just that, custom.  DoIT is here to help solve the difficult, cost-sensitive research computing storage problems on campus.  This service could be as simple as a 100 TB Tier 2 file share or as a complex as a half petabyte custom storage rack ordered specifically for one department.  Due to the undefined nature of this service, the place to start is with a consult.  To set one up, please contact storage@doit.wisc.edu
      2. DoIT will house storage in data center facilities that are physically secure, have UPS backed power, and managed cooling.  Other hosting options may be available.
      3. Offsite mirroring for disaster recovery may be available as an option. 
      4. Due to the unknown nature of these potential Custom Storage solutions, please discuss all of these options with your DoIT Technical Representative.
    2. Pricing
      1. Due to the unique nature of DoIT’s Custom Storage service pricing may vary based on the solution.
      2. As a reference point for current storage pricing, please see DoIT's File & Data Storage site.
      3. Storage is billed monthly.  Billing is based on the average amount utilized over a calendar month.
      4. Note that the billed amount is not based on the usage you see in your file system.  It's based on what the storage sees as used blocks after it runs through a deduplication algorithm and after a storage team member shrinks the volume down to a size that's going to have some slack space. The storage software can't see inside your file system, it only sees the blocks.  If you write a 10 GB file and later delete the file it doesn't know that the file is deleted because all the file system does is remove the file system pointer and say the space is available to be written over.  The blocks still have data. In the long term it will be over written at some point with new data.
      5. Backup is not included in the storage pricing.  DoIT recommends Bucky Backup for backing up data.  For cost information, please see the Bucky Backup site. 
    3. Requests
      1. Turnaround time for storage requests is subject to storage resource availability.
  3. Storage Cancellation Policy:
    1. Customer:
      1. Customer has the right to alter or terminate this policy at any point, but terms of the changes or termination must be agreed upon by both the customer and DoIT.
    2. DoIT:
      1. In the event that DoIT determines the storage is being used inappropriately and/or impacting other customers or DoIT's ability to manage the storage systems, DoIT has the right to terminate service.  Terms of the changes or termination of service must be agreed upon by both the customer and DoIT.
      2. Billing will cease when all customer storage has been removed from the DoIT storage systems.
  4. Service Terms & Conditions:

    The following Terms and Conditions must be followed while using the Custom Storage Service:

    1. Installation Prerequisites
      1. Customer must schedule a consult with DoIT to discuss their storage needs.  Consults can be set up by contacting storage@doit.wisc.edu
      2. Based on the information from the consult, DoIT will determine if the customer’s needs fit into one of the pre-defined DoIT File & Data Storage solutions or if this will need to be a custom setup.   
      3. Customer must have an IT support point of contact to administer and configure the storage.
    2. Major Incident Handling
      1. DoIT's Custom Storage is equipped with redundant disks, hot spares, dual controllers, redundant network connections, and dual power supplies. The data center has redundant power, cooling and UPS. However, incidents may occur which result in a loss of storage to the customer's server. In the event of a data center environmental crisis (climate control, power failure, fire, etc.), storage equipment may be shut off at DoIT's discretion.
      2. Notification of outages will be the same as other DoIT services. Customers should check the outages page at http://outages.doit.wisc.edu or contact the Help Desk at 608-264-HELP or help@doit.wisc.edu.
      3. In the event of an extended incident that causes loss of access to storage, the customer may be directed to connect to the mirrored storage at DoIT's alternate data center, if the customer requested mirrored storage.
    3. Upgrades and Patching
      1. DoIT will periodically perform necessary code upgrades and/or patching to the storage systems and servers. This work is normally scheduled for the 3rd Sunday in April and October. Emergency patches may be applied on any weekend if deemed necessary. Patching during the workweek will only happen under critical circumstances.
      2. Patches and code upgrades normally result in controller reboots. With redundant controllers and paths, the customer will not normally be impacted by this work. In the unlikely event that there is a loss of storage connectivity, the customer should simply re-connect to the server and notify DoIT of this event. If connectivity is still unavailable, the customer should contact the Help Desk at 608-264-HELP or help@doit.wisc.edu and open a case on Custom Storage.
    4. Backups
      1. DoIT will provide offsite mirroring for protecting data in the event of a data center or storage system disaster, if the customer has requested it and it is available for this service.  However, offsite mirroring is not a replacement for periodic backups of your data. The customer is solely responsible for having data backed up. DoIT cannot guarantee that data will be available or recoverable in the event of an incident.  If you do not have your own backup system in place, DoIT recommends Bucky Backup: https://it.wisc.edu/services/backup-bucky-backup/
    5. Data Content and Security
      1. The customer is solely responsible for the content of their data and meeting any associated privacy or security standards such as HIPAA. DoIT has no knowledge or control over customers' content, nor do we control sharing of a customer’s storage.   Note that the storage is not encrypted so secure content (such as Social Security numbers) should not be stored here.   
    6. Performance
      1. For Custom Storage (Tier 4 storage offering), because it is delivered over the campus IP network, DoIT cannot guarantee performance or uptime. If you have regular performance problems with this storage it is likely that it is being used for an unsuitable application with too high of an I/O rate.   DoIT will recommend that you upgrade to a higher performing storage.
  5. Contacts:
    1. Custom Storage staff may be contacted by e-mail at storage@doit.wisc.edu
    2. Questions and other problems should be addressed to the DoIT Help Desk (4-HELP)