Which Storage Option is Right for You?

The university provides multiple options to help you access, share, and store your information.

Caveat: If any of your files include sensitive university data, see the Sensitive Data Guide for where to store it.

Office Documents

U-M Google Drive

A free service for collaborating on or storing your files.

  • Best for simultaneous collaborating on Google files (docs, sheets, slides)
  • Access anywhere, from any device
  • Invite collaborators using MCommunity groups

U-M Dropbox

A free service for collaborating on or storing your files.

  • Best for storing and collaborating on non-Google files (e.g., MS Office, media formats)
  • Access anywhere, from any device
  • Approved for use with some types of sensitive data. Refer to the Sensitive Data Guide: Dropbox at U-M.

MiStorage

A for-fee service for departments and researchers requiring large-scale, network-mounted storage.

  • Backup snapshots
  • Disaster recovery replication
  • Multiple disk speed options

View a detailed comparison of office document storage options

Data Used in Research

Turbo Research Storage

A for-fee service for high-performance storage of large-scale research data.

  • Fast IO for use with the Great Lakes HPC Cluster and future cluster offerings
  • High-performance bulk file access
  • Two security levels for storing some types of sensitive data
  • Disaster recovery replication

MiStorage

A for-fee service for the cost-effective or high performance storage and access of large amounts of data.

  • Multiple disk speeds for optional high performance or cost effective storage tiers
  • Backup snapshots
  • Two security levels for storing some types of sensitive data
  • Disaster recovery replication

View a detailed comparison of research storage options

Audio/Video Media for Streaming

MiVideo

Storing, managing, and sharing audio and video for download or live streaming.

  • Easy-to-use consoles help you organize and catalog media, as well as add metadata to improve search and sharing
  • Integrated into Canvas for easy media sharing in course sites

Want a more detailed comparison?