Share, Transfer and Publish Data Using Globus Online

Globus Online is a tool that allows WVU researchers to transfer data between workstations, share data with colleagues, publish data sets and archive data in Google Drive for Education. For a quick start guide, please visit Globus: How to Get Started.

Share Data

Use Globus Online to share your data files with researchers located at other institutions around the world without needing administrative assistance.

If you are not using an endpoint that starts with "wvu#", before you can start sharing data using Globus, you must contact Research Computing and request that a shared endpoint be created for you.

For instructions on how to share data with other researchers using Globus, visit Globus: How to Share Data Using Globus.

Transfer Data

Use Globus Online web browser to transfer data files between your PC/workstation and the WVU HPC systems. There are two dedicated servers, data transfer nodes (DTNs), that are connected to WVU's Science DMZ (REX) that allow data to be transferred with low latency and high bandwidth across WVU campus as well as to other locations around the globe. This space is available for all researchers at WVU who need to temporarily store and transfer data. 

In addition to faster transfer speeds, Globus Online also includes restartable file transfers in case a connection fails and includes data checksumming to ensure data is correctly transferred.  

Logging in and transferring files

1. Visit Globus Online to login. Select West Virginia University from the organizational list and login using your WVU Login username and password.

2. Navigate to the File Manager page to start transferring files. Additional information about how to Login and Transfer Files can be found at Globus: How to Get Started.

WVU's High Performance Computing (HPC) End Point is named wvu#hpcdtn. You can search for other endpoints in the "Endpoint" Dialog Box.

Transferring data to your local workstations/PC

To learn how to transfer data to your local workstation, you will need to install Globus Connect Personal. Instructions on how to install Globus Connect Personal is located at Globus: Globus Connect Personal.  

Globus Connect Personal is only needed to transfer files to your local workstation/PC. Most major academic institutions already have a Globus Connect Server installed which allows you to transfer easily to the remote institution.

Archive Data

Globus Online provides an easy mechanism for researchers to archive their data sets for free to their MIX Google Drive account via a Google Drive Connector. Google Drive gives researchers a safe environment to archive their data sets, which replicates between multiple data centers to prevent data loss.   

All WVU faculty and students have unlimited storage in Google Drive through their MIX account. Staff can request a MIX account by going to the Login Account Request service page and selecting Google Apps under Resource Information.

View instructions or watch a video tutorial for steps to connect your Globus account with Google Drive.

You can also use the Google Drive web interface as well as the Google Drive Sync Client to transfer files to your Google Drive MIX account; however, the sync client and web interface is best used for small files (Example: .docx, .pdf, etc.). Globus Google Drive Connector is optimized for transferring a large number of files as well as very large files, which cannot be done, via the Google Drive Web Interface on Sync Client. You will see the best performance with Google Drive Connector with transferring several large files at once. If you have many small files, it might be best to zip/tar these files first before transferring to Google Drive.

To archive data to a Google Drive you will need to follow the instructions in the Globus Online Google Drive Connector Instructions, which will guide you on how to make a Shared Endpoint that you can attach to your MIX Google Drive Account in order to transfer data to/from your account.

When searching all endpoints you will need to search for 'wvu#GoogleDrive'.

To transfer files to your MIX Google Drive Account, review the Transfer Data Section above. You will want to select the name of the Shared Endpoint you just created as one of the two endpoints. This shared endpoint is what “connects” your Google Drive account to Globus Online. The other endpoint could be a WVU endpoint, such as wvu#hpcdtn or a personal endpoint you created that connects to your workstation/PC.

Publish Data

Use Globus Online to publish your datasets, possibly as a requirement from a granting agency. Published datasets are organized by communities and their member collections and are searchable by other Globus users.

If you are not using an endpoint that starts with "wvu#", before you can start sharing data using Globus, you must contact Research Computing and request that a shared endpoint be created for you.

For more information on how to publish your data sets using Globus Online, visit Globus: Data Publication User Guide.