The main purpose of NeLS is to allow Norwegian Life Science researchers and their collaborators, to share and work flexibly on Life Science data, in a safe environment that accommodates proper data stewardship through the life cycle of a science project.
All research projects with a Norwegian partner with funding from national funding bodies (NFR, Universities, Helseforetak, etc) and EU grants are entitled to store life science data in NeLS for storage quotas up to 10 TB. This also includes private companies and governmental research institutions.
Research projects (with a Norwegian partner) that do not fall into the definition above can still apply for a storage quota, but these projects will be treated according to the user contribution model for granting storage to projects by Sigma2.
NeLS is not to be used to process ‘personal sensitive’ data according to the definition of Article 4(13), (14) and (15) and Article 9 and Recitals (51) to (56) of the GDPR . This includes genetic data, biometric data processed solely to identify a human being and health-related data. Please consult information from the EU , the Norwegian Data Protection Authority and your institution for further guidance.
In case you are processing sensitive personal information for your research, ELIXIR Norway can support you with using TSD or other secure services.
The architecture of NeLS has a tiered structure, with three natural layers that data can reside in. These are the compute layer, the NeLS storage layer, and the StoreBioinfo layer. All three serve different purposes in terms of usage: from small capacity, very short term immediate storage with fast access available to compute resources, to large capacity, long term storage, with less flexible access methods and longer access time. Another important difference between the levels is the built- in redundancy against data loss and implemented backup policies.
See overview here: https://www.bioinfo.no/storebioinfo/data-management-in-nels
The middle NeLS storage layer is of medium capacity and short term nature, intended for flexible sharing of project data that is being actively worked on by the project group, often a subset of the total data available in the project.
The StoreBioinfo layer is of high capacity and long term nature, intended to hold all data of a project found worthwhile to keep, from raw data to intermediate processed data and final interpretation results. A storage quota in this layer is granted upon a successful application to the Norwegian Bioinformatics Platform helpdesk (contact@bioinfo.no, https://www.bioinfo.no/storebioinfo).
The compute layer has many different services integrated towards NeLS storage layer. For the NeLS Galaxy servers, a limited storage is offered for users to complete there analysis before transferring results back to NeLS storage layer. Your data should not reside here, as this temporary storage may be automatically cleaned after some time based on inactivity/age of the data.
The NeLS storage layer has built in redundancy against data loss due to hardware failure at disk and server levels. In addition there is a snapshot feature implemented that can recover data deleted by users by accident, if discovered and attempted recovered within 4 weeks. Beyond this there is no backup of data in this layer, in particular no off-site disaster recovery backup.
The StoreBioinfo storage layer is implemented on top of the national research data storage solution NIRD, offered by Sigma2 Uninett A/S. This large capacity, long term data storage layer is protected against data loss by both hardware redundancy mechanisms and asynchronous geo-replicated storage between two cities in Norway. In addition NIRD implements daily snapshots for the last 7 days and weekly snapshots for the last 6 weeks.
By using NeLS services, you agree to utilize the resources towards the intended usage stated herein, and will contribute to proper data curation and clean up of data in the projects you participate in. The helpdesk and NeLS operational staff will monitor system performance and utilization, resulting in instructions to projects and users to move data between layers as appropriate. You hereby agree that you will comply to such instructions when received.
When a NeLS profile is created for you the first time, we collect your name, contact information and other information you provide such as your affiliation and institution name. Once you have a NeLS profile, NeLS operational staff will be able to see in your profile information for the purpose of managing NeLS resources. We also collect information about login events into the NeLS portal.
We use your information for the following purposes:
You can access your personal information in the NeLS portal. You can use the Help (Support) feature in the portal to request amendments to your Information.
We retain your personal information as long as you are a user of NeLS services. We deactivate NeLS profiles when users' institutional logins are not working anymore. In such cases, we do not delete any of your data.
You can request to be removed from the NeLS system by submitting a request from inside the portal. Use the Help (Support) link for this. Upon your request for removal: