All data are stored somewhere, but may move between systems. You can view a list of systems for data storage below.
Local, external storage refers to memory cards, USB sticks, drives etc. They are easy to remove and/or replace in a device, and can be used in e.g. a card reader, connected via USB etc.
Network drives are provided by your institution and accessed by a network drive path like e.g. \\files.myinstitution.edu\myusername
Laboratory equipment refers to machines and similar that store data from e.g. measurements. This can either be stored on the equipment and transferred, or displayed to the user for manual reading.
There is a wide range of repositories available. Some are offered by publishers for data related to an article, others by commercial partners, research communities etc.
There is a wide range of repositories available. Some are offered by publishers for data related to an article, others by commercial partners, research communities etc.
Virtual machines are client-server setups, where you use an application on a device – e.g a laptop or tablet – to access a “machine” that is not your computer. The system is virtual, but behaves like a physical machine, providing access to storage, to operating systems like Windows, and provides applications.
Virtual machines are client-server setups, where you use an application on a device – e.g a laptop or tablet – to access a “machine” that is not your computer. The system is virtual, but behaves like a physical machine, providing access to storage, to operating systems like Windows, and provides applications.
Mobile phones, tables and similar equipment can be used for capturing video, but also for accessing and possibly editing/altering the data via apps, e-mail systems etc.
Mobile phones, tables and similar equipment can not only be used for capturing research data, but also for accessing and possibly editing/altering the data via apps, e-mail systems etc.
Mails refer to your e-mail system, where research data can be contained in e-mails, or attached in files to an e-mail. This can be your institutional e-mail system, your own, or one offered by a commercial service provider like Gmail.
Research data can be stored in a folder on your computer on the build-in hard drive.
Your university might have a repository for data and/or publications, where research data can be stored. In some cases, the repository can offer exposure of the research data through a data portal. Thus, an institutional repository is not always merely intended for public display of the data sets.
Cloud storage refers to solutions where the physical storage is available as a service. This can be commercial providers like DropBox, or institutional solutions – or somewhere in between. Common to the solutions will be an app, or utilizing a standard protocol, for providing access to files that are not stored on your device, e.g. your laptop or phone. However, often the cloud storage solution will synchronize the files – or at least need to copy them on a case by case basis – to be able to provide access.