Secure Space
Welcome to Secure Space, a web-based service that enables faculty and staff engaged in collaborative activities to securely share files with colleagues at Penn and other institutions. Secure Space is flexible and scalable, offering quick setup of shared file storage space; user access controls; a free space option that will meet the needs of many teams or projects; and a more robust paid option, with fees based on actual usage. Files are encrypted in transit and at rest, and all data are held at Penn, reducing some of the risks associated with commercial, cloud-based services.
Secure Space offers a secure, local alternative to "cloud"-based commercial options such as DropBox and BaseCamp. Secure Space is functionally different from Secure Share, which is used to exchange sensitive or confidential information electronically.
How Secure Space works
A faculty or staff member ("space owner") can define a virtual storage space for documents, authorize internal and external users ("members"), and customize what they see in the space (e.g., banner message, email link). Four access options are available: download/upload, download-only, upload-only, or administrative access. A project milestone chart can be maintained and prominently displayed in the space. Users can view, create, and remove folders; upload and download files; "lock" files to ensure that others don't work on them simultaneously; and "watch" file activity. They can also view logs and access old file versions. Certain of these functions are not available to "download-only" or "upload-only" users.
Free and paid space options compared
| Free spaces | Paid spaces |
|---|
| Amount of space | 50 MB space limit | Unlimited, pay for space used (no per user charges) |
| Number of spaces per owner | 5 | Unlimited |
| File lifetime | Files purged after 1 year of inactivity | Unlimited |
| Required credentials | PennKey only | PennKey, or external credentials. |
| Number of spaces per owner | 5 | Unlimited |
| Types of owners | Faculty and staff only | Faculty and staff only |
| Types of members | No restrictions | No restrictions |
Paid option costs
The cost of storage space for any given month is based on the amount and duration of usage that month. The current rate is $3.00 per gigabyte per month, with a minimum charge of $3.00 (per month).
Access
Log on at https://medley.isc-seo.upenn.edu/secureSpace/jsp/fast.do
Benefits of Secure Space
- Is secure and easy to use
- Reduces the University's exposure to data compromise issues
- Supports collaboration with colleagues outside of Penn
- Mitigates many of the risks associated with commercial "cloud" services:
- Unavailability of data due to business failure, prolonged service interruptions, or poor backup practices
- Insufficient safeguards protecting sensitive information, including FERPA or HIPAA regulated data
- Off-shore data storage, potentially posing problems of foreign government access to data or export control problems
- Data ownership terms that give unacceptable rights to service owners
- Additional risks detailed in "Cloud Computing: Opportunities Used Safely", Almanac, March 30, 2010.
Questions
Questions about Secure Space can be addressed to securespace-help@lists.upenn.edu
Last updated: Tuesday, September 6, 2011
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