Common Datasets

ARC clusters can provide central storage for some common, open datasets. This helps reduce infrastructure costs by eliminating some unnecessary duplication and allows researchers to reserve their storage allocations for their own data.

How to Use Common Datasets

On the Owl and Falcon clusters, common datasets are stored in the /common/data/ directory.

Requests

Please submit an ARC Helpdesk request if you know of a dataset to be added to these locations. Please consider the following

• does the dataset’s licensing permit sharing in this manner

• will several VT research groups be likely to benefit from the centralized hosting

Submit a request via https://arc.vt.edu/help and indicate:

• “Request dataset to be added to /common on ARC systems”

• Provide a link or reference to the dataset

• A brief description of the data and it’s utility for your applications