Tier 3 Research Storage

Tier 3 is a low-cost tape-based storage environment for static, rarely accessed research data. It is operated through the NESE (Northeast Storage Exchange) Tape service, maintained by Harvard at MGHPCC. Tier 3 is connected to Tier 2 via high-speed network links for straightforward data migration.

Important

Tier 3 has no free base allocation — all storage is charged at $12/TB/year, effective July 1, 2026. See RT Announcements for full details.

Important

Tier 3 is available for HPC storage only and is intended for long-term retention of data that does not require regular access.

Storage Details

Detail	Value
Technology	Tape (NESE, hosted at MGHPCC)
Minimum allocation	5 TB (in 5 TB increments)
Base allocation	None — all storage is charged
Cost	$12/TB/year (effective July 1, 2026)

Prerequisites

• Active Tufts account and a Tier 2 or Tier 1 HPC storage allocation

• A Globus account linked to your Tufts credentials

Requesting Storage

Submit a Research Storage Request to request a Tier 3 allocation. Allocations are provisioned in 5 TB increments. Use the Data Storage Finder to confirm Tier 3 is appropriate for your data.

For questions, contact tts-research@tufts.edu.

Note

Tape storage has higher latency than disk-based tiers. Retrieval of data may take longer than transfers between Tier 1 and Tier 2.

Moving Data to Tier 3

Tier 3 is best suited for data that has already been moved to Tier 2 and is no longer accessed regularly. Archiving data to Tier 3 is not a self service operation. If you have data in Tier 2 you would like to move, please open a support ticket with Research Technology and they will assist you.