Cloud Storage Benutzerhandbuch - 2. Kurzbeschreibung

With its cloud storage, the LRZ offers employees and students of Munich universities and the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities centralized, secure and highly available file services. As part of a basic service, the online storage is free of charge. The prerequisite for use is a user ID registered in the LRZ directory service. For all users of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU), the Technische Universität München (TUM) and the Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften (BAdW), the corresponding entries are available. Data protection is regulated according to German or European law. By using the LRZ Cloud Storage, the user agrees to the guidelines for the use of the LRZ Cloud Storage.

The cloud storage can be accessed in two ways. Either by directly mounting the storage in the user's respective file system and/or via a browser using the so-called WebDisk. A mobile version for most touchpads and smartphones is available. The LRZ Cloud Storage is divided into four areas:


Personal Cloud Storage → Personal storage for employees & students with exclusive access rights:

  • All employees and students of LMU, TUM and the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities have a personal storage quota (the current quota is available here).

  • The storage space is protected so that access by others is not possible.

  • A Cloud Storage user manual is available in the Documentation section, which describes access to the storage in more detail.


Institutional Cloud Storage → Shared storage for faculties, institutions and projects (secured share):

  • Faculties and central institutions each have a certain quota of their own storage space, the size of which is based on defined criteria.

  • This storage can be shared, provided that the appropriate rights are assigned, e.g. in the case of interdisciplinary collaboration between different chairs or departments.

  • Within each faculty, the the faculty admin (TUM: Information Officer (IO); LMU: IT-Servicegruppen in den Fakultäten) or a designated representative is responsible for the allocation of storage space. He also decides on the size of the allocated storage.

  • Chairs and departments wishing to use the offered storage can apply for it in consultation with the faculty administrator (TUM: Information Officer (IO); LMU: IT-Servicegruppen in den Fakultäten) at the Service Desk (TUM: IT Support of the TU Munich; LMU: via the LRZ Service Desk).

  • If necessary, changes to the size of the storage space can be coordinated with the responsible faculty administrator and applied for via the LRZ Service Desk (additional approval may be required). 

  • In addition, there is the option of appointing your own storage administrator (Teiladministrator), who can set up additional shares (storage space areas) with special rights assignment within the chair or department.


Temporary Cloud Storage → Temporary storage (public share):

  • A temporary drive is available for exchanging data.

  • Up to 10 GB with a maximum of 50,000 files (incl. directories) per user can be stored there.

  • Files stored here are automatically deleted after 48 hours. In contrast to the other storage areas, only the last 24 hours are backed up by snapshots.

  • Please note that anyone can access this temporary storage. Please do not store sensitive data there!


ISAR Cloud Storage → Integrated Simple ARchive:

  • With the Integrated Simple ARchive (ISAR) Cloud Storage, partial administrators of the MWN-ADS can move data from the cloud storage nas.mwn.de to an online archiving area.
  • The data on the ISAR Cloud Storage is kept online for ten years and is also backed up in the archive and backup system of the LRZ.
  • The ISAR Cloud Storage is not a substitute for a backup of servers or file repositories! For this purpose, please use the archive and backup system of the LRZ.
  • Further information can be found in the documentation.


Data security

The storage systems of the LRZ Cloud Storage are secure and highly available. In this context, secure means - among other precautions - a 2-stage system to prevent data loss. In addition to the creation of so-called snapshots, all data is replicated on another storage system in another fire compartment and backed up on magnetic tape. Snapshots allow users to reconstruct accidentally deleted, modified or damaged files and folders, if necessary, without having to contact an administrator or the service desk (user-controlled recovery). High availability means practically constant accessibility of data. All relevant components are designed redundantly, i.e. if one component fails, operation continues.