CC* Storage-Campus: The MSU Data Hub: A campus-wide hub for data storage, collaboration, and sharing to enable data-intensive research and education

The MSU Data Hub provides a centralized platform for researchers at Michigan State University to store, share, and archive their data. This system supports internal collaboration and connects with external partners, enhancing the ability of researchers to reuse and make their data accessible to the public. Furthermore, the Data Hub contributes to educational efforts by promoting data-driven research and open science practices.

It is designed to help the MSU scholarly community handle increasingly complex and large datasets, which are becoming more common in fields like life sciences and artificial intelligence. By sharing 20% of the resource with the Open Science Data Federation, the project will strengthen national research infrastructure, fostering collaboration across institutions.

The MSU Data Hub uses a Ceph-based solution to address the growing challenge of managing large volumes of research data, particularly in fields like genomics, geospatial imaging, and AI. The project will integrate with the MSU Commons to ensure that datasets are stored using FAIR principles, which emphasize making data findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable.

By partnering with the MSU Research Technology Support Facility, which generates terabytes of research data annually, the Data Hub will serve a broad range of scientific disciplines. Additionally, the system is linked to existing campus cyberinfrastructure including MSU’s NSF-supported high speed research network, facilitating seamless data analysis and reducing the need for individual researchers to manage their own storage solutions.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.