Workstations are assigned to SISSA users who request them, depending on availability.
At the end of the collaboration, the workstation is not automatically assigned to the next person occupying the desk, but may be reallocated within the entire Area based on need.

Special configurations (GPU or specific/high-end requirements):
Office workstations normally do not include a dedicated graphics card. If your work requires a GPU or, more generally, a special configuration, the purchase request (or stock verification) must be sent to helpdesk@sissa.it directly by your P.I., and may involve covering the cost difference.

C:\ Contains the operating system and applications. Saving personal data in this space is not allowed. The disk is not monitored and is not backed up.
D:\ (Scratch) (if present) Space that can be used for temporary data. Warning: this area is not backed up and data may be accessible to other users. Do not save sensitive, private, important, or long‑term data here. The disk is not monitored and is not backed up.
H:\ (Personal roaming home) This is your personal home directory, hosted in the data center (and therefore not on the workstation). For this reason, it is available whenever you log in to any domain‑joined computer. It includes the following folders: Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Music, Videos. This space is personal (not accessible by other users) and is backed up. Data is preserved until the account expiration date plus a retention period of 180 days.

Microsoft applications in the Office 2024 LTSC version (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) are already installed on the workstations.
The use of the desktop version on SISSA workstations is available to all users, regardless of their contract type.
Use of the same applications on personal devices, however, depends on the contract: for some categories (e.g., visitors and certain collaborators), the basic A1 license may only provide access to the web versions.

Fiji / ImageJ
Due to the large number of plug‑ins and frequent updates, it is recommended to download the compressed version directly from the official website (Stable – Windows x86‑64) via Fiji Downloads. Once downloaded, extract the folder and store it on your Desktop or, preferably, on H:\, so it will be available on any domain‑joined workstation.

Apps from the Microsoft Store
It is generally possible to install applications from the Microsoft Store that display the “Get” button.
These apps are installed only for your user profile (on the specific machine) and do not require administrative privileges. Common examples include: Inkscape, GIMP, etc.

Other scientific software
For additional scientific software, requests must be sent to helpdesk@sissa.it.
In the case of non‑standard or unfamiliar applications, ITCS reserves the right to carry out preliminary checks (e.g., security and compatibility assessments) before proceeding with a possible installation.
There are also shared machines equipped with specific licensed software for data analysis. For information, please contact the neuroscience technicians at neurostaff@sissa.it.

Even though access is performed using the usual SISSA credentials, the configuration differs from office workstations:

C:\
contains the operating system and applications.
In addition, a local profile/home is created (Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Music, Videos): data saved here remains only on that specific computer.

It is still possible to access your H:\ (roaming profile) to read or transfer data.
Since user profiles on set‑up machines can occupy a significant amount of disk space and the number of users may be high, you are kindly requested to leave on C:\ only the data necessary for your current work session.
For data storage, use the other available drives (always temporarily).
Within your research group’s directory (P.I.), please create a folder named after your username.
If there is insufficient local disk space, your P.I. will be asked to move (or have someone move) the data to the centralized NAS or other storage systems.

FastDataDrive (D:\, E:\ or other letters)
High‑performance local data drive (no backup), recommended for data needed for upcoming analyses directly on the machine in use.

DataDrive (D:\, E:\ or other letters)
Local mechanical data drive, slower in read/write operations but generally larger (no backup).

Scientific data that must be stored long‑term should be saved on the centralized NAS located in the SISSA data center.
If your P.I. has activated the space, you will find it at: \\datastorage.sissa.it\yourPIusername

SISSA also provides cloud storage through Microsoft OneDrive. The currently available quota is:
Students / Faculty: [1TB]
Other positions: [100GB]