Department Share

Department Shares are network storage spaces shared by small groups of users or departments.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Department Shares

Advantages

Department Shares provide password protected, backed up, collaborative work spaces for departments and small groups. The shares are accessed from users Home Directories and easily accessible from a campus network connection. Remote (off campus) access is available via Virtual Lab or Remote Desktop for employees.

Disadvantages

The size of most Department Shares are limited due to physical equipment costs and capacity limitations. Department Shares do not allow for real time collaboration. If multiple users are editing the same file, problems can occur. Access from off campus can be cumbersome, and different from on campus access. Shares can only be set up to allow campus community members access, non-campus users need different solutions.

Accessing a Department Share

There are two different department shares available. A department share is automatically created for each department based on the information in our ERP. There are also department shares available by using your Home Directory.

Mapping a Drive (Windows On Campus)

Automatically generated Department Share

1. Open This PC or Computer
2. Open the Y: drive or type \\gustie.gac.edu\dept in the address bar to access your department share.
3. Navigate to your Department folder->\Share. All employees of your department can access and read files in this folder.

Home Directory Department Share

When on campus, Windows users can access their Home directory Department Shares through their Home Directory. The shares appear as a folder in users Home Directories. To access your home directory, please see: Home Directory.

Connecting to Server (Macintosh On Campus)

Automatically generated Department Share

1. In the Finder, choose Go -> Connect to Server.
2. For the server path enter: smb://gustie.gac.edu/dept
3. Navigate to your Department folder->\Share. All employees of your department can access and read files in this folder.

Home Directory Department Share

When on Campus, Macintosh users can access their Home directory Department Shares through their Home Directory. The shares appear as a folder in users Home Directories. To access your home directory, please see: Home Directory.

Virtual Lab (Off or On Campus)

Departmental Shares are available to users who are logging in and using the Virtual Lab Environment. Virtual Lab allows students and employees remote access from their personal machines to a virtual windows desktop lab machine. For help with Virtual Lab, please see: Virtual Lab.

Remote Desktop (Off and On Campus)

Gustavus Employee Remote Desktop Solution - For directions on using the staff/employee remote desktop solution, please see: Gustavus Remote Desktop - You must be logged into your Gustavus Google Account to view.

WebMail File Manager (Off Campus)

Home directory and Home directory Department Share access is available with the File Manager option in WebMail. For help using this option, please see: WebMail File Manager.

ftp (Off Campus)

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) access to Home Directories and Home Directory Department Shares is available (ftp.gac.edu). Access is authenticated with your Gustavus User Account credentials. There is a variety of ftp applications that will work. For help using Filezilla, please see: Filezilla.

Requesting a shared folder between different departments

To request a shared folder between different departments, please contact the Technology Helpline with the following information:

• Usernames of those users who need access to the share
• A name for the shared folder that is applicable to the content of the share or those who have access to it
• Size estimate.

Department Share Maintenance

Individual departments or groups are responsible for maintenance and upkeep on their shares.

• An annual review of users with access privileges is recommended. Contact the Technology Helpline to ask who has access to your share.
• Annually reviewing and removing unneeded or archival data is recommended.

Alternatives to Department Shares

Nebula

Nebula is a file server used by classes and departments to share files. Important Note: data on nebula is not backed up. Additional information and help: nebula.

Google Drive

Google Drive is a cloud based storage system. Google Drive lets you create documents (text document, spreadsheet, slideshow) in any web browser and store them online. Documents created or stored in Google Drive can be shared and edited collaboratively. Please see Google Drive for additional information or help.

Office365

Microsoft Office 365 is a cloud based office suite. It provides cloud storage (unlimited for current students. faculty and staff), access to Web App versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and depending on licensing can also offer Office on demand and a download of the full desktop version of the Microsoft Office Pro suite. For additional information or help, please see Office 365.

Moodle

Moodle is an open-source online course management system. Gustavus maintains its own Moodle server. Courses can be created for groups or projects. Gustavus' Moodle site is located at http://moodle.gac.edu. For additional help and information please see Moodle.

Helpful Hints

Data Security Information

Gustavus Employees have several recommended options for storing and sharing information depending on the classification of that data. For information on where to save date, please see: File Sharing and Storage.