File Server Guidelines and Policies

File Storage Policy

Depending on your organization's policies, all work-related files and documents need to be saved to the network file server (sometimes referred to as "network drives" or "shared drives") or to an approved cloud storage, such as OneDrive or Teams. In this guide, we'll focus on the file server.

The file server is backed up on a regular basis and your files will be safe in case anything happens to your computer.

You also have a personal staff folder (S: drive) that is just for you, located at \Staff\*YourUsername*

• Only work-related files should be stored in your personal staff folder

Personal photos, videos or music should not be stored on the network file server or your work computer.

Certain file types (executables, batch, and MSI files) are not allowed to be stored on the network file server.

Local Files

Files on the Desktop, Documents folder, and your C drive are NOT backed up. Make sure all work-related files are saved to the file server.

Photo / Video Storage Guidelines

While work-related photos and videos can be stored on the network file server depending on your organization's policies, if you have large amounts of media storage, we recommend that they be stored on your organization’s preferred photo sharing site.

File Restore Guidelines

Our backup window is a rolling period of 30-45 days.  We also use a 3rd party encrypted cloud backup that allows us to go back much farther.  If you accidentally deleted a file or folder from the network file server, then submit a Help Desk ticket with the folder path and file name of what you want restored and the approximate date/time the file or folder was deleted. We can attempt to restore it if it’s within our backup window.

Folder Organization and Naming Conventions

To keep the network file server from becoming too complicated, folders should be organized by department and project. Folders and file names should be clear and descriptive, but also as compact as possible. Avoid folder and file names longer than 12-15 characters whenever possible (there is a 256-character limit on the network path and filename, including extension).

Special Permissions

Special access permissions should not be applied for folders more than one level down from the root folder. If staff have access to the root level folder, it’s ok if they are restricted access to sub folders. It’s not recommended that staff who do not have access to the root folder be given access to a sub folder.