Ranch System Replacement
Data Migration Instructions for all Users

Last update: September 24, 2025

Warning

September 24, 2025 Over the next year, TACC's archival data system, Ranch,, will undergo a complete system replacement, requiring all current Ranch users to curate, then migrate, all their Ranch data from the old to the new system.

Since this is a total system replacement, and not an upgrade to existing hardware, all data on the current (Old) Ranch must be MANUALLY COPIED OVER to the New Ranch system, by the respective data's owner, in order to save it permanently. Data on Old Ranch will NOT automatically transfer to New Ranch. You are responsible for migrating your own data that is stored on Old Ranch, either in your personal directory, or in a designated Project space, prior to the end of November, 2026.

Tip

Subscribe to Ranch User News to receive system status updates and news.

Technical Information

Ranch will transition from the current Quantum StorNext tape archive system, hereinafter referred to as "Old Ranch", to a new Versity hierarchical storage management software and Spectra Logic tape archive system, now to be referred to as "New Ranch".

Ranch SystemLifespanSpecifications
Old Ranch 2019-2025Quantum StorNext tape archive
New Ranch 2025-2035Versity ScoutAM & Spectra Logic TFinity

Curating your data

Data on Old Ranch will be accessible through November, 2026. This time span allows PIs and their delegates ample time to curate and migrate their data from Old Ranch to New Ranch. Now is the time to re-evaluate your archived data on Old Ranch e.g. decide if the data is still valuable and worth of long-term storage, or if the data is redundant or no longer needed.

If you only need access to your data in the short term (within the next year), then the data can stay on Old Ranch, and be accessed via the OldRanchData directory/NFS mount until November, 2026.

Examining Usage on Old Ranch

To see your disk usage on Old Ranch, check the "HSM_usage" text file in your Old Ranch home directory or project directory. 

[slindsey@login1-ranch ~]$ ls
OldRanchData
[slindsey@login1-ranch ~]$ tail -1 OldRanchData/HSM_usage
Fri Sep 19 04:32:01 2025 /stornext/ranch_01/ranch/users/01158/slindsey total storage allocated: 2.0T on-disk in use: 476K (Under) total files allocated: 50K in use: 12 (Under) on-tape in use: 995.2 MB
ranch$ ls

Important Dates

DatesAction
September 30, 2025
  • New Ranch hardware available to general users. Begin migrating your data.
  • Old Ranch will becomes a read-only file system.
  • Old Ranch directories will be accessible via an NFS mount, OldRanchData, on New Ranch's login nodes.
  • All new Ranch allocations subsequent to September 30, 2025 will automatically be placed on New Ranch.
    • November 1, 2026Old Ranch hardware removed from service

    Important

    PIs are responsible for managing and migrating the data in their project spaces (or delegating the migration).

    Data Migration Directions

    Since Old Ranch is a read-only file system, you must use either the cp and/or the rsync UNIX commands to copy over your data.

    Using cpUsing rsync
     
    ranch$ pwd
/home/02945/davec
ranch$ ls
OldRanchData
ranch$ cp OldRanchData/mystuff.tar .
    		 
    ranch$ rsync -avhP OldRanchData/mystuff.tar .

    Tip

    Limit your cp and/or rsync transfers to no more than three simultaneous processes. Initiating excessive processes on the login nodes is prohibited. See File Transfer Guidelines in the Good Conduct guide.

    Ranch Quotas and Polices

    Ranch quotas and policies will remain constant across the new and old system.

    File Count Quota Users are limited to 50,000 files in their $HOME directories.
    File Space Quota Users are limited to 2 Terabytes (TB) of disk space in their $HOME directories.

    See the Ranch User Guide for more about Ranch's "Project" Storage, a special directory structure designed to support both shared and oversized data directories for users or projects whose storage needs exceed the standard 2TB quota.