Terms of use for the Storage Protect system

1. Operation

The archive and back-up system (TSM) is operated in cooperation with the University of Stuttgart.

2. Costs

This service is fee required, i.e. external costs (115€ per TB and year) will be invoiced to the institutions. TSM Nodes up to 2 TB are free until further notice. The determination of the data volume takes place at the beginning of November every year.

3. Readability of the data

The Computing Center (RZ) makes every effort to create a long life and security for the data with all means available. However, there can be no complete guarantee for the unlimited readability of data on the archive and back-up system. Neither the manufacturer of the back-up system nor the RZ as a service provider may be held liable in case of damage to data.

4. Data protection

Personal data are only saved insofar as they are needed to reach contact persons. They are not used for any other purposes or passed on to third parties. Connection information is saved in the system’s log files for following up on errors. This includes the access date, the number, and the scope of the data transferred as well as the IP address of the computer. Further processing or evaluation of this data is only done in anonymized form (for example for statistical purposes, to fix errors, or to investigate hacking attempts).

The client is solely responsible for the contents of the saved data. The client is obligated not to save or archive sensitive data (e.g. personal data) without encryption. The client is responsible for ensuring the interpretability of the data, for example by managing the necessary meta data.

5. Encryption

As a standard setting, in the archive and back-up system all data are saved without encryption. With this standard setting, the data are also transferred through the network without encryption from the client to the server. The client can activate an AES 128-bit or a DES 56-bit encryption on the TSM client. The client is solely responsible for saving and managing the key. If the key is lost, decryption is no longer possible. The KIM therefore advises clients to encrypt sensitive data before backing up or archiving.

6. Archiving regulations and periods

Life span of a node
Archive and back-up files are managed in so-called nodes. A node usually corresponds to a computer from which the data is to be saved or archived. Nodes can be registered on the TSM servers together with the address of a contact person. This contact person is the person who the RZ will contact and is solely responsible for the data (and its contents) which are archived or saved on the TSM server.

Nodes are not deleted as long as they are active, that is, as long as data is being saved or re-written on a node. If a node is not accessed for longer than 1 year, the contact person will be notified via e-mail that the node is going to be deleted and the node will be blocked. If there is no reaction within 2 months, the node will be deleted without notification. Nodes which are unblocked again upon the user’s request but which still remain inactive in the following 2 months will also be deleted without notification. If the e-mail address saved for the contact no longer exists, the node will also be blocked and deleted after a 2-month waiting period.

Nodes which remain unused 180 days after they have been requested will also be deleted without notification.

KIM reserves the right to change this concept if necessary after notifying users of changes.

Saving periods for archive data
During the life span of a node (see above), the standard setting for saving archive files is 365 days. After 365 days, calculated from the time of archiving, the data will be automatically deleted without notification.

Copies of the archive data
The standard setting is for the RZ to create a second copy of archive data. The archive files are therefore saved in two different places. KIM reserves the right to change this concept if necessary after notifying users of changes.

Saving periods for back-up data
The standard setting is for the RZ to save up to 2 versions of each file for back-up files. Upon request, the number of version can be increased. The inactive, that is, the files no longer present on the client, will be deleted after 30 days. Active versions will never be deleted individually. The life span of the active versions depends on the life span of the respective node.

7. Availability, waiting periods

The RZ continually tries to ensure the functionality of the archive and back-up system. Despite this, occasional system failures cannot be excluded.
If maintenance work on hardware and software must be done which requires the service to be interrupted, this will be announced on the RZ website or - upon request - via e-mail in a timely manner insofar as it is planned. Status information about failures will be put on the RZ’s website in a timely manner.

8. Support from the RZ

The RZ can only provide limited support for the installation / configuration of the client software and any problems. In particular, we cannot guarantee any particular time period for answers. During regular working hours, we try to react to a problem on the same day, but the processing time depends on the complexity of the problem. We recommend you inform us in the case of questions, problems, or disruptions via e-mail to kim-backup@uni-hohenheim.de. In general, the RZ can only process support questions if the hardware and software used by the client are also fully supported by the manufacturers of the archive and back-up software. It is the responsibility of the client to ensure appropriate compatibility with regular system updates.

9. Data limits

At the moment, there are no limits to the amount of data which can be saved in the back-up and archive system.
It is the responsibility of the client to discuss with the RZ the amount of data within each node in order to limit it to a reasonable amount.
The selection of files and file systems which are to be saved is done solely by the client.

10. Period of validity, changes, and termination

The length of time for the back-up and archiving services offered by the RZ is limited. If nothing else has been agreed upon, the valid archiving periods set up upon activation of a node apply.
The client may terminate the service before this period has expired, however. In this case, all saved data will be deleted.

11. Client’s obligations

The points listed below have already been described in more detail above and are only summarized here.

• It is the responsibility of the client to carry out regular system updates to ensure that the computer is compatible with the archive and back-up software used.
• The client is solely responsible for the contents of the saved data. The client is obligated not to save or archive sensitive data (e.g. personal data) without encryption.
• The selection of files and file systems which are to be saved is done solely by the client.
• The client shall delete or ask for the deletion of data and nodes which are no longer needed.

If the data are encrypted, the client is solely responsible for saving and managing the key. If the key is lost, decryption is no longer possible.
The RZ reserves the right to take appropriate measures if the client violates the regulations described here. This could lead to a user being prohibited from using the KIM’s back-up and archiving services.