Organize and share CFS data
The default layout
Rescale creates this structure inside every CFS mount:
Create subfolders freely inside it, {username}/library/common_inputs/, {username}/library/2026/january/, whatever fits. Standard command-line tools work as expected from inside a job or workstation.
Sharing through projects
Rescale Projects are the primary way to share CFS data across a team.
Assign a job to a project and the platform creates a folder inside the CFS mount:
storage_ext_{cfs_id}/projects/{Project_Name}-{project_id}/
then adds a symbolic link from there to the job's actual working directory under users/{username}/.
Project members reach the job's files through the project folder as if the data lived there, but it's a link, not a copy. You're storing and paying for one copy.
Workstations assigned to a project can read and write every project directory their user belongs to. Jobs don't have this. A job sees only the project it's assigned to.
Access is granted at the project level. A member of the same project can write inside another member's job work/ directory, even where they can't modify the job folder itself.
Treat a project as a trusted group. If you need a job's working data protected from colleagues, don't assign it to a shared project.
Renaming isn't possible once data is on CFS. The directory path contains both names:
- Job names can't be changed at all.
- Project names can't be changed. The workaround is a new project, then reassigning groups and jobs to it.
Name things deliberately the first time.
Choosing where to put data
Putting shared reference data in a personal library and then telling people the path works, but it isn't discoverable and it breaks when you leave. Use a project.
Watch out when archiving
Archiving a job deletes its CFS files and removes the job folder from the project directory. Teammates lose access to that data at the same moment you do, permanently.
Coordinate before archiving anything a project depends on. See delete data.
Related
- Mount CFS — getting data in
- Delete data — what removal actually does
- Monitor usage — per-user consumption
- Share a job — the Rescale Files equivalent