Restoring a previous version of a file or folder stored on the Research Data Storage Service (RDSS)

Quest and Kellogg Linux Cluster Downtime, December 14 - 18.

Quest, including the Quest Analytics Nodes, the Genomics Compute Cluster (GCC), the Kellogg Linux Cluster (KLC), and Quest OnDemand, will be unavailable for scheduled maintenance starting at 8 A.M. on Saturday, December 14, and ending approximately at 5 P.M. on Wednesday, December 18. During the maintenance window, you will not be able to login to Quest, Quest Analytics Nodes, the GCC, KLC, or Quest OnDemand submit new jobs, run jobs, or access files stored on Quest in any way including Globus. For details on this maintenance, please see the Status of University IT Services page.

Quest RHEL8 Pilot Environment - November 18.

Starting November 18, all Quest users are invited to test and run their workflows in a RHEL8 pilot environment to prepare for Quest moving completely to RHEL8 in March 2025. We invite researchers to provide us with feedback during the pilot by contacting the Research Computing and Data Services team at quest-help@northwestern.edu. The pilot environment will consist of 24 H100 GPU nodes and seventy-two CPU nodes, and it will expand with additional nodes through March 2025. Details on how to access this pilot environment will be published in a KB article on November 18.

This document explains how to to restore previous versions of a file or folder in RDSS/FSMResFiles.

The Research Data Storage Service (RDSS) creates snapshots of files stored on the system that are kept for 28 days. Snapshots occur daily between 7 pm and midnight. This feature allows users to retrieve files that were accidentally modified or deleted with some exceptions: 

  • Files that were modified/deleted more than 28 days ago cannot be restored because snapshots are deleted after 28 days.
  • Files that were created then modified/deleted within 24 hours may not be able to be restored because they may not have been on the file system when a snapshot occurred. 

Retrieving older versions of modified/deleted files

Older versions of files can only be restored from computers running the Windows operating system. If you are using a Mac or Linux machine, you will need to use NUworkspace to complete the file restore. NUworkspace provides a virtual Windows desktop service accessible via a secure web interface. Once connected, you can access files in the Research Data Storage Service (RDSS) through the Cloud Mounter application. 

The instructions below describe how to restore older versions of files or deleted files contained in snapshots on RDSS.

Connect to NUworkspace (Mac and Linux users)

Due to the limitation that files can only be restored from computers running the Windows operation system, Mac and Linux users need to connect to NUworkspace, using your Northwestern University NetID, to complete the restore process.

Once connected, you need to map RDSS to your NUworkspace environment. You can reference the NUworkspace: Mapping a RDSS Drive documentation for instructions on mapping RDSS.

View previous versions
Restore a previous version
Restore a deleted file

Need help?

If you need help with any of these instructions, email rdss-help@northwestern.edu to speak with a data management specialist. 

Also see our Research Data Management Guide for links to all of our help articles.

Research Data Management Support at Northwestern University

Research computing data services partners with the Office for Research, University Libraries and Galter Health Sciences Library to provide research data management support throughout the research process. Please see the Research Data Management and Sharing page for more information

 

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RDSS provides secure on-premise data storage for researchers.