New Documentation Platform for Northwestern IT Research Computing and Data Services
Please reference https://rcdsdocs.it.northwestern.edu for the new technical documentation related to the Research Computing and Data Services. In December of 2025, the Knowledge Base content on this page will be removed and replaced with a link to the new documentation platform. Until that time, this Knowledge Base article will no longer be updated, and the latest information can be found on the new documentation platform page . If you have any questions, please reach out to globus-help@northwestern.edu for assistance.
The Globus data transfer service can be used to transfer data to and from Amazon's S3 cloud storage service. For more information on why and how to use Amazon S3 storage, see Using Amazon S3 Storage
Setup
To use Globus with Amazon S3, you need to: create a bucket (if you don't have one already), create an IAM access key with permission to write to the bucket, and install the access key on the endpoint.
- Create an Amazon S3 bucket
- Create an AWS IAM access key that has permission to read from and write to the bucket
- Give Globus access to the bucket via the IAM access key you created (see below).
Authenticate in the Globus interface
Once you have an AWS Access Key ID, you can use these credentials to authenticate in the Globus interface.
- First, log into Globus File Manager using your Northwestern NetID
- Then search for the Northwestern Amazon S3 (Standard) collection
- Once you have selected an endpoint, follow the instructions in Globus's How to Access Your Files on AWS S3 with Globus documentation.
Need help?
Email globus-help@northwestern.edu for additional support in setting up Globus with Amazon S3.
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.