SDE FAQs

1. What is the Secure Data Environment (SDE)?
The purpose of the SDE is to provide UCSF research teams with a professionally managed, secure, web based, collaborative environment in which to store files containing sensitive data. It provides application and data base services that allow investigators to view, manipulate, and save their data entirely in this protected environment without requiring files to be stored on their own computers.

2. Who can use the SDE?
At this time authentication is done through the UCSF Active Directory (AD) system. A UC ID is required to be part of the AD. If someone on your team is not part of the UCSF community including faculty, staff, and students, you would need to work with your department’s Identity Management Worker (IMW) to obtain a UC ID for the non-UCSF staff.

3. When is this service available?
The service is available now.

4. How can I sign up for this service?
To sign up, contact the CSS Help Desk at 514-4100, Option 2. CSS Help Desk is available Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. and 6 p.m.

5. What support will be provided?
Support personnel are available Monday through Friday from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific time. There is a phone, e-mail and web based ticketing system to track all issues. The data center is supported 24/7.

6. What security measures will be in place?
There is a 24 X 7 staffed datacenter with secure physical access to all servers, automated OS and major application patching, managed network-based intrusion detection, managed policy based enterprise firewall using Cisco and Microsoft technologies, and managed VPN access.

Data will also be encrypted in transit.

7. How will data be backed up?
Fourteen local daily snapshots of full server state are done in addition to nightly incremental backups. Hourly off-site snapshots are performed. There is a monthly archive of the entire infrastructure that rolls to quarterly after three months. Full restore and disaster recovery capability will be provided. Additionally, data is replicated at a secure off-site location.

8. Can I access my data 24/7?
Yes, the servers are available 24/7,

9. How much will the service cost?
Initially, the service will be provided free of charge. Beginning July 2008, the start of the next fiscal year, there will be a $400 per year charge for up to 10 gb of space and up to 6 people plus the principal investigator. A tiered pricing structure will be put in place for sites that require greater than 10 gb of space or more than seven users.

10. How much space is available?
In general there is sufficient space to handle typical researcher requirements. Large file requirements will be handled on a case by case basis.

11. How many studies can I have?
There is no limit to the number of studies you can have. You would only be limited by the cost of storage and usage.

12. Will my data be purged?
There are no plans to purge data from the site.

13. Will my data be examined for HIPAA compliance?
No, this service provides a safe storage facility for your data. You are responsible for complying with data security regulations.

14. From where can I access my data?
Your data can be accessed from any PC or Mac connected to the UCSF network or through the use of VPN to connect to the UCSF network. A VPN account is required for VPN access.

15. How will the data get transferred from the existing server?
We will use SharePoint (SP) a Microsoft product. Your SP site is a secure, collaborative, portal-style site that you can use to share documents. SP sites require a login and comprise a specific group of users. Your site is restricted to those users. Data security will be at the document level.

16. How will you insure that no one else gets access to my data?
SharePoint sites require a login and comprise a specific group of users. Your site is restricted to those staff members to whom you have granted permission, either read only or read/write. You will log in using your Active Directory login, the one you use to log into your computers.

17. How is data accessed?
Using SharePoint, data is transferred from the secure servers to the Investigators server. After updating the data, investigators should transfer data back to the secure server and delete the data from their local server. You can directly edit office documents in Word or Excel using the SharePoint URL, up to the word “documents” in the file name box when opening a document in those applications.

18. Which browser can I us?
SharePoint runs under a variety of browsers including Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Apple Safari.

19. How will I print necessary documents?
You will be able to print to any printer you currently use.

20. Is SDE part of the long term plan for the data warehouse?
No, Secure Data Environment and the Integrated Data Repository are two separate initiatives.

21. Where can I find out more about SharePoint?
You can read more about SharePoint at SharePoint Overview.

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SDE FAQs