In This Article
What is the Employee Storage Server (ESS)?
The Employee Storage Server (ESS) is Hamilton's central, secure file storage system for employees. It provides:
- A personal storage area for your critical files (H Drive on Windows; Users volume on Mac)
- A shared area for your department to exchange files internally (M Drive on Windows; Departments volume on Mac)
- A collaborative area for sharing files across departments (P Drive on Windows; Departments volume on Mac)
- Off-campus access to your files through the My Hamilton Files tab
ESS access is provided to employees only. Students should refer to the Student Storage Space (SSS) instead.
What are the ESS folder quotas (size limits)?
Every employee is assigned an initial personal storage quota of 3 GB. Each department and campus space is assigned an initial quota of 1 GB.
A maximum of 10 GB of personal storage per employee is allowed. Temporary space for special projects, research, or instructional needs cannot be granted for longer than one semester at a time.
How do I request a quota increase?
Employees and departments may request an annual quota increase, in increments of 500 MB. Requests are handled by LITS on a case-by-case basis:
- Requests for more than 5 GB are evaluated individually.
- Requests beyond the 10 GB maximum are referred to the Desktop Integration Services (DIS) team for alternative arrangements.
- If requesting temporary space, you must specify a reasonable timeframe, not to exceed one semester.
How do I request a shared drive (P Drive)?
You may request a shared drive on the ESS (P Drive) for administrative use by submitting this service request.
How do I access ESS on- and off-campus?
On-Campus – Windows
- Double-click on the Computer icon on your desktop.
- Double-click on the network drive you need.
- As long as you have the appropriate rights, you can now copy files to the desired space.
On-Campus – Macintosh
- From the Macintosh desktop, select Go, then Connect to Server.
- Enter ess as the server address, then select Connect.
- Under Select the volumes to mount, choose Users (or Campus or Departments, if applicable), then select OK.
- Locate the folder corresponding to your username. This folder is your personal ESS space.
Off-Campus
You must be connected to the Hamilton College VPN before following the steps below. If you haven’t been approved for VPN or installed Cisco AnyConnect, see this article first.
- Connect to the Hamilton College VPN using the Cisco AnyConnect application.
- Follow the Windows or Macintosh steps above, depending on your device.
If this is your first time connecting over VPN, you will need to manually map your network drive on your Windows machine.
Where can I get further help?
For more information, please refer to the Related Articles section in the sidebar. You may also submit a ticket on this topic under the Related Services section.