Within DuraCloud, content is organized into containers called spaces. Each institutional account can include up to 100 spaces, with the option to increase this number if the need should arise. Access controls are at the space level, so Enterprise-level account administrators can create user groups and control who has read or write access to a given space. Content is transferred from the local system to a specific DuraCloud space using one of the transfer methods described below. You can learn more by signing up for a trial account.
Users can interact with a browser-based graphical user interface to view and manage content in DuraCloud. The web interface offers access to all storage system capabilities, including space and content creation, updates, and deletion. It provides access to graphical depictions of the information contained in the storage reports and allows for bulk deletion of spaces and content items and for user account administration. The interface also allows an authorized user to initiate a snapshot to send to Chronopolis for storage as part of a DuraCloud Chronopolis subscription. Administrators can use the interface to designate read and/or write access to a given space for a given user or group of users.
Please review the Sync Tool minimum requirements.
If you decide to use Chronopolis as your provider, there is one additional step. When you have loaded all of your content, you will select the button to create a "snapshot" of that content in Chronopolis. This starts the process of moving those files form DuraCloud to Chronopolis. Part of this transfer process is to "stitch" those files back together as they land in Chronopolis storage. The stitching process combines the chunks back in to the original file. After this is complete, the manifest file is used to verify that the reconstructed file has the same checksum as the original. Once all files in the snapshot have been replicated across all of the Chronopolis nodes, the content in DuraCloud is removed.
Regardless of which provider you choose, if you need to get your content back, you will use the Retrieval Tool to download it from DuraCloud. This tool ensures that the content you download from DuraCloud looks the same as what you sent to DuraCloud. That includes recreating the original directory structure, stitching all chunked files, and even re-setting the timestamps on those files to the original values (where possible.) If retrieving content from Chronopolis dark archives storage, there is a per-TB fee for retrieval.
For content deposited in Chronopolis, an authorized user can retrieve a list of all files and checksums in both md5 and sha256 format.
If any of the bit integrity checks fail, the file is added to a failure report which is sent to DuraCloud operations staff. These staff members will re-check each failed file, and if checksums still do not match, will perform a restore action from Glacier. If the file restored from Glacier correctly matches the expected checksum, the file in S3 is replaced. If the file retrieved from Glacier also fails to match the expected checksum, we notify the customer of the discrepancy.
A subscription with a second provider, such as Glacier, allows DuraCloud to replace any items which are found to be missing or corrupt in Amazon S3. If Amazon S3 is the only provider, DuraSpace staff will notify the customer if a file fails integrity checks.
For content deposited in Chronopolis, each node in the Chronopolis network performs regularly scheduled integrity checks of all content. In the event that a file fails this test, the auditing system flags the file for review. Reviews are performed manually by Chronopolis staff in order to ascertain the cause of the audit failure. Once the cause is determined, a repair request is made to another node, which transmits a valid copy of the file for replacement at the requesting node.
DuraCloud spaces can be configured to enable streaming of the content stored in the space. When enabled, files can be streamed using the RTMP format, which requires a flash-based player to view. Supported file formats include MP3 and MP4, among others. Streaming can be used in either open or secure modes. Secure streaming requires an authenticated request to DuraCloud to retrieve a signed URL before the stream can be delivered. More details about media streaming in DuraCloud can be found here.
The fees for DuraCloud integrate the cost of bandwidth and requests, allowing for downloads up to the amount of the storage subscription. What this means is that if your DuraCloud subscription is for 5 TB of content, you are able to download (retrieve) 5 TB of content each year for no additional cost. For the vast majority of DuraCloud customers, this is sufficient and there are no additional charges for download. If there is a need to download content in excess of your storage allotment, please discuss this with DuraSpace staff.
If you encounter an error when running the SyncTool or using other content transfer tools, please first consult the list of error messages and suggested fixes below. If the error you are experiencing is not included in the list below, please visit the support system and submit a ticket with a detailed description of the issue you are experiencing (and include screenshots when available).