The Physics department gets free file storage on A&S's file server, which PhysIT has set up. How can this file share server represent utility to Physics Admin staff?
Departments use file servers to more efficiently store and share files. As compared with emailing files, for example.
Notes
- But as with any change in workflow, conventions may need to be discussed and agreed on, and new skills and habits developed.
- When and if it's a "go" per Physics's decision, PhysIT can make this server "drive" appear automatically so it becomes easily available on all staff computers. This is almost immediate, once committed, via AD policy.
- This drive will appear on all Physics staff computers. It can safely be ignored by folks not using the service, but they may appreciate knowing what why it will appear on their computer.
- Roger has workd with Greg at A&S to set up the space (started 11/15/13), in anticipation that this service will prove of value to Physics. This could have easily been reversed if there had been a "no go" decision, of course.
See also
January 2015
Next step, as of Wed, 1/21/14:
Make additional changes to the folder names, structure, and permissions.
Actions taken so far
Deb scheduled a Physics staff mtg week of 1/12/2015 to demo share and have a Q&A. PhysIT's Oliver demo'd, consulted, and answered questions.
- Invited all staff with current permissions, as well as Mark, Vince, and Jenny. (Per John, no need to have Dorothy or Nick attend.)
Oliver demo to John and Deb on 12/15/14 (Monday), a "next step" from Friday, 11/14/14.
- We looked over structure within John's account after (temporarily) mounting their drive, <//files.cornell.edu/as/phy/admin>.
- Oliver created demo account <as-phy-it-user> and added it to the "Instruction" group so we can see what limited permissions look like logged on with that account.
- Confirm inaccessible folders are visible, but that they prevented access if access not permitted, prompting a dialog box stating as such.
Phase one: Shared folders
Synonyms: Folders == directories.
Conventions used among staff will limit actions not necessarily enforced by the permissions.
Objective: Reduce complexity to reduce mistakes and facilitate debugging, balanced with ensuring security and adequate access.
Groups
| Primary Dept Group | Secondary group | Sub-group name | NetIDs | Members | Sorting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
All Physics Staff AS-PHY-Staff | Physics Office Staff AS-PHY-OfficeStaff | Management AS-PHY-Management | jcm8 dah6 | John Miner Deb Hatfield | 1 |
| AS-PHY-Staff | AS-PHY-OfficeStaff | Business AS-PHY-Business | nbs4 | Nancy Searles | 2 |
| AS-PHY-Staff | AS-PHY-OfficeStaff | Grad AS-PHY-Grad | klb79 | Kacey Acquilano | 3 |
| AS-PHY-Staff | AS-PHY-OfficeStaff | Instruction AS-PHY-Instruction | rjf2 sfc1 bgr33 | Rosemary Barber Sue Sullivan Brad Rayle (temp) | 4 |
| AS-PHY-Staff | Technical AS-PHY-Technical | jew16 ml622 ns53 vwk1 | Jenny Wurster Mark Lory-Moran Nick Szabo Vince Kotmel | 5 | |
| AS-PHY-Lecturers | Lecturers | use at all? | 6 |
Folders and permissions
| Folder name | Primary directory (folder) owner(s) (NetID) | Full folder access, by group or individual (NetID) | Notes | Sort |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Undergrad and events | Sue Sullivan (sfc1) | OfficeStaff | Access by all office staff To contain, from John's originally proposed folder names, "Colloquia/events" and "Gen. Information". | 1 |
Duplicating | Brad Rayle (bgr33, temp) | OfficeStaff | Access by all office staff | 2 |
Courses | Rosemary Barber (rjf2) | OfficeStaff | Access by all office staff John's originally proposed folder name was "Course mgmt". | 3 |
Office | Sue Sullivan (sfc1) | OfficeStaff | Access by all office staff Just office staff. Thus, not for Nor for all Physics staff (including Tech). This was not one of John's originally proposed folders. PhysIT's proposed folder name was "Department". | 4 |
Grad | Kacey Acquilano (klb79) | Grad, and Management | 5 | |
HR and Staffing | Deb Hatfield (dah6) | Business, and Management | John's originally proposed folder name was "HR/Staffing". | 7 |
Budget and Finance | Nancy Searles (nbs4), John Miner (jcm8) | Business, and Management | John's originally proposed folder name was "Budget/Finance". | 8 |
Chair support | Deb Hatfield (dah6) | Management | John's originally proposed folder name was "Chair". To contain, from John's originally proposed folder names, "Faculty", which he had noted that Kacey needed occasional access. | 9 |
Future possibility: Tech | Technical | Placeholder, in case it represents any value to Vince, Mark, and/or Jenny. | 10 |
Folders hierarchy
Physics Dept Group's Share | Top Level Folder (Permissions here) | 2nd Level Folder | Folder Access | Notes | Sort |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| \\files.cornell.edu\as\PHY\Admin | Instruction => AS-PHY-OfficeStaff | Undergrad and events Duplicating Courses | All office staff | 1 | |
Office AS-PHY-OfficeStaff | | All office staff | Not all staff | 2 | |
Grad AS-PHY-Grad AS-PHY-Management | | Grad, and Management | 3 | ||
| Business => AS-PHY-Business AS-PHY-Management | HR and Staffing Budget and Finance | Business, and Management | 5 | ||
| Chair support AS-PHY-Management | | Management | 6 | ||
Future possibility: \\files.cornell.edu\as\PHY\Tech | Future possibility: AS-PHY-Tech | Technical | Placeholder: Any value to them? | 7 | |
Future possibility: \\files.cornell.edu\as\PHY\Instruct | Future possibility: AS-PHY-Instruct | Lecturers | Create at all? | 8 |
SysAdmin Note:
- Permissions on shared dept folders will be applied only by groups, not ID's (Due in part to the complexity of tracking /adding / removing individual permissions applied to folders, as well as possible file inheritance & permissions settings.)
- Individual ID permissions should only be granted to folders in "Users" folder trees, if used. (Scripting / variables may be preferred)
- Groups should have a functional name (please) "Business office", "Instruction", etc.
- All Phy dept sub-groups will be put in a primary Physics Admin / dept group - which is used to apply policies, map drives, apply networked printer queues, allow access to the share, etc.
- A special
- All staff must be in at least one sub-group, and preferably only one - even if the group only contains one person. (To allow access to share, policy’s, etc.)
- Folders which everyone can access do not need finer grained permissions. (Use primary group @ root only)
- Groups may either be nested (HR in Business Office), or multiple groups may be given permission to a folder (Safety, Facilities), as appropriate.
- Where group nesting/ combining is not sufficient, a user may be placed in more than one group.
- Caution is advised with any nesting or combined group access, unintended future rights may result.
- It is desirable to use these same groups for all services, such as Group Policies, FileMaker, Printing, File Sharing, etc.
- Policies can only be applied to accounts which are in the AD Tree cornell.edu\CUinv\NetIDs\Staff\AS\, or are created by AS/ChemIT/Physit (Special admins, guestID's, etc.)
Phase two: Individual's folders
- TBD
Info from John Miner, to inform this:
| Folder name | Primary directory (folder) owner (NetID) | Full folder access, by group or individual (NetID) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
Management | JOHN | Q: Is this more a personal folder, not a "shared" folder? A: Sounds that way. "Users\jcm8" John's originally proposed folder name was "Manager". To contain, from John's originally proposed folder names, "Facilities". |