243 iMac Data Retention Policy


The keyboard lab iMacs are used by multiple staff and students on a daily basis and as such any work saved on them is at your own risk. Due to the size of many of the files created (Logic, Ableton etc) it’s impractical to save them to your network storage so we recommend that all student and staff work done in 243 should be saved to the internal ‘Scratch’ drive for working on, then onto your own external USB Pen or Hard Drive at the end of the session.


All files being used/worked on should be copied to the Scratch drive


DO NOT work on large files from your network drive or from a USB Pen/Drive. Both the network and USB busses are slower than the internal drives, so you will encounter slow performance and sync issues along with other intermittent problems.


Accessible Drives/Data Policy:


  • Macintosh HD - Regularly Cleared without notice (Do not save work here)
  • Scratch Drive - Cleared Annually (Summer)
  • Network Storage - Backed up by IT
  • Media Drives - Cleared Annually (Please keep to the file structure dictated for saving work)


Large/In Use Files: 


Save work to the ‘Scratch’ Drive in a folder with your full name. Work on these drives is accessible to anyone using the machine so this is at your own risk.


Small Files:


Smaller Files (e.g. Sibelius, Word…) can also be saved to your network storage (accessed by ‘Connect to Network Drives’ on desktop). This storage is backed up by IT so is secure.


Anything not stored on the ‘Scratch’ Drive could be moved or deleted without notice as these drives are often cleared for updates.