Homedrive FAQs

Information on this page is for UBC Vancouver Employee Home Drives- UBCO employees can find UBCO specific information here

How do I access my Home Drive?

In order to access your Home Drive, you must first map or mount it in your operating system. Once you have mapped your Home Drive, it will remain mapped until you remove it. Please refer to the Setup Documents page to learn how to map your Home Drive.

I was told that I already have a Home Drive, how come I don't see it?

Possibly because your Home Drive has not been mapped on your computer yet.  To map your Home Drive in your operating system, please refer to the Setup Documents page.
VDI users:
In order to see your Home Drive, you should only need to log out of your VDI session and log back in.

Can I recover files I have accidentally deleted?

Yes. To recover deleted or older versions of files, please refer to the Setup Documents page.

What is the disk quota for my Home Drive?

Home Drive space is provided with 20GB at no cost.  The maximum quota space is 100GB.  For information on requesting for additional storage, please visit our Cost page.

What does the quota cover?

All files saved within your Home Drive are counted by file size against your quota.

Will I receive warnings if I'm close to my quota?

Customers will receive email warnings at over 90% capacity from no-reply@systems.it.ubc.ca.

Email will go to the email address attached to their EAD account.

What if I have exceeded the quota?

When the quota hits 100% capacity, customer will be notified that they have reached capacity and will have a 30 days grace period until the directory will be locked (no new files or folders can be created).  New files and folders can be created once storage is less than the  quota or additional storage is requested.

What if I missed the first notification email about exceeding the quota and was not aware of the 30 days grace period?

You will receive a notification email every 7 days until you are under the limited quota or have purchased additional storage, to remind you that you have reached capacity.

I received a notification email that I have exceeded my quota by 10 GB.  Can I still access my home drive?

When your Home Drive usage is 10 GB over your quota, you can read and delete files, but write access to your home drive is locked. You will not be able to save any more data until you reduce your usage below this threshold (by deleting files and directories) or you purchase additional storage.

Can I apply for additional space?

Yes, to apply for additional space, please visit our Cost page.  Please note that requests for additional space must be approved and submitted by your Department Administrator.  If you need assistance in locating your department administrator, please contact the IT Service Centre Help Desk.

How is Home Drive Protected?

Anti-Ransomware software acts as an additional layer of security implemented on TeamShare and HomeDrive to protect against ransomware attacks.  Multiple controls are in place including the removal of access from user accounts in the event that ransomware activity is detected. 

What could trigger a lockout?

File activity and usage that resembles a ransomware attack may trigger a ransomware detection event that will remove the user account’s access to both Home Drive and Teamshare.

These include but are not limited to:

  • Copying a large number of files and folders in a short period of time
  • Deleting a large number of files and folders in a short period of time
  • Creating, copying, or working with files with well-known ransomware file extensions

Access to other services is not impacted and will remain in place.

What should I do if I lose access to Home Drive?

Contact the IT Service Centre

Where can I get more information on Ransomware?

The UBC Information Security Office provides further information here: https://it.ubc.ca/services/cybersecurity-services/ubc-information-security-office/ransomware