LaRDS sustainable funding model

The LaRDS sustainable funding model is a two-tiered model comprising:

• Central support service charge
  The base service cost ($k 780 p.a.) is funded by a central support service charge based on the proportional allocation to each faculty (Table 1).
• Fee-for-service direct charge
  Any requirements above the large standard capacity and natural growth rate are funded by a fee-for-service charge to the end user, covering the marginal cost of additional capacity requirements (Table 2).  This volume based charge is intended to apply only to the very smallest number of very large users.

1. Base quota allocations – Common Pool
(centrally funded via annual Central Support Service Charge)

The base service capacity and costs are allocated to each faculty using a formula that reflects level of research activity, taking into consideration Research Income, FTE Academic Staff and FTE HDR students. The resulting nominal capacity distribution used to calculate 2010 charges is set out in Table 1.

Service costs are not charged per terabyte used. Instead cost allocations are pre-determined by formula-based allocation, as set out in Table 1.

Table 1  Base quota allocations

Notes:

1. Standard ISO SI abbreviations used here, i.e. 1 TB = 10¹² byte.
2. Media capacity quantities shown here.
3. Non-faculty research groups include MUARC, MCSS, MCEM, etc.
4. Table 1 sets out exact cost figures and indicative capacity figures. In practice, due to ongoing reductions in technology costs, actual capacity provided in 2010 may be higher than set out in Table 1. However additional charges will not be levied if a larger basic capacity is provided during 2009. Actual current allocations are set out here.
5. Annual Central Support Service Charge is computed at the rate of $6,200 per 1% of allocation, allocated by formula, not per TB actually used.  In 2009 this equates to $248.00 per TB allocated not per TB used.  Allocation is based on the weighted sum of Research Income, FTE Staff and FTE HDR Students, not TB used.

2.  Over-quota fee-for-service charges – Specific Purpose
(once-off charge for additional storage capacity ‘purchased’)

A very small number of very large users may require more capacity than that available under the standard formula. In these cases a once-off direct charge is levied to cover the marginal costs of provisioning the additional capacity.  The marginal cost charges for 2009 are set out in Table 2.  This capacity remains assigned to the group that originally funded it.  Current Specific Purpose allocations are set out in here.

Notes:

1. Standard ISO SI abbreviations used here, i.e. 1 GB = 10⁹ byte
2. Media capacity quantities shown here

Notes regarding units of measurement

1. ISO SI standard abbreviations are used throughout this document, e.g. 1 TB = 10¹² byte.  Unfortunately some computer systems misuse these abbreviations, e.g. using TB to mean 2⁴⁰ byte ≈ 1.10 TB.  This ambiguity has been resolved by the IEC which defines a distinct set of binary multipliers, e.g. 1 TiB = 2⁴⁰ byte.  Unfortunately this IEC standard is not yet universally followed.  For further information.
2. Media capacity figures not file capacities are used throughout this document.  For example, if a 1 MB file is stored on disk once and backed up onto two tape copies, the total consumption of capacity is 1 MB disk + 2 MB tape = 3 MB total.