Storage & backup

Where your files live, what we back up – and how to recover deleted data.

01 · Usage

How much space are you using?

There is no fixed limit at the maths institute – but it’s good to know roughly where you stand.

$ du -sh ~                    # total home usage
$ du -sh ~/* | sort -h        # home subdirs, sorted
$ du -sh ~/.[a-z]* | sort -h  # including hidden ones

02 · Backup

What is backed up?

Daily backup of the maths home directory. Rule of thumb: anything in your home is safe.

Path	Backed up?	Retention
`~` (maths home)	✓ daily	30 days
`/tmp`	✗	cleared on reboot

/tmp: only for temporary computations. Anything important belongs in your home – otherwise it can vanish.

03 · Restore

Recover a deleted file

Possible up to 30 days back – the sooner you tell us, the safer.

Drop us a short note to help.math@hu-berlin.de with:

Full path of the file or directory (~/project/thesis.tex)
Last time you remember the file being there (a date is usually enough)
Account name if not obvious from your email

04 · Large volumes

Project directory instead of home

For research projects or theses with large datasets, we are happy to set up dedicated directories – with a backup strategy that fits the data volume. Email us with your expected size and intended use.