Storage Allocations
All active projects on CARC systems are eligible for a storage allocation on the CARC /project2 file system. Storage allocations are measured using disk space in terabytes (TB) (1 terabyte is equivalent to 1,000 gigabytes (GB)). Each PI receives 15 TB of storage across their project(s) at no cost.
PIs must request storage allocations in the CARC user portal. The default minimum storage allocation size is 5 TB per project.
Storage is not limited to 5 TB and can be increased in increments of 5 TB. The current price is $60/TB/year for every TB above the first free 15 TB. For example, when a PI requires 20 TB total of space, the annual cost for the data storage space will be:
20 TB per year = 15 TB free + (5 x $60/TB/year) = $300 annual cost
The /project file system will be decommissioned on January 1, 2026. /project will become read-only on November 1, 2025 and PIs will no longer be able to write any data to this system. PIs with data on /project should migrate their data to /project2 as soon as possible. If you would like assistance migrating data, please reach out to carc-support@usc.edu.
PIs conducting cryo-EM research at USC are eligible to park their raw data on a designated cryo-EM storage system. There is no fee for parking raw data on /cryoem2, but the data can only be kept there for a limited time before it needs to be transferred to /project2 or another storage system. CARC only guarantees the datasets for two weeks after the final set of data has been acquired.
For more information about requesting allocations, see our Request a New Allocation page.