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Each REDCap consortium member institution hosts its own separate and independent REDCap server instance. The Institute for Informatics, Data Science, and Biostatistics (I2DB) hosts the WUSTL REDCap instance and maintains servers where REDCap data and metadata are stored. Data stored in the WUSTL REDCap instance in Production Status are protected by multiple layers of security, running on Linux platforms configured for strict user permission policies. Our REDCap database is hosted on scalable cloud based services hosted in the WUSM secure network. User access is provided via an external secure web server. All web communication between the user web browser and the web server is SSL encrypted. Further protections are provided via strict Linux permission configurations on the servers themselves. All database transactions for projects in Productions Status are continually backed to facilitate PITR (point in time recovery) methods and are stored for approximately 30 days. Uploaded files are stored on secure cloud services and are only accessible via the WUSM secure network. Please note, while data are backed up on the production server, if you or anyone added to your project purposely deletes data, for example by deleting records, fields, or instruments, or changing variable names or multiple choice codes, there will be a fee associated with recovering data.Access to the data and various systems
Access to REDCap, projects, data, metadata, etc., are protected by WUSTL Key and password authentication in accordance with Washington University policy. Information regarding account, project, and data policies are below.
REDCap Back-ups and Copies
A REDCap project must be in production mode for any of the subsequent information about back-ups and copies to be relevant. There are no back-ups or copies of projects in development status. Maintaining projects and collecting real patient data in development status is not recommended. If you choose to do this, you are risking data loss and may be non-compliant with the Washington University Research Data and Materials Policy.
Continuous Back-ups: WashU REDCap back-ups are maintained to restore the entire REDCap database (all projects' data and metadata) following a major data loss event. Back-ups are not used to recover individual projects or data from an individual project. REDCap database transactions for projects in Productions Status (for example, data entry, project modifications, survey invitation logs, etc.) are continually backed-up to facilitate point in time recovery (PITR). The continuous back-ups are stored on a rolling 30-day basis. This means that 30 days of back-ups exist from a specific point in time at all times.
Nightly Copies: WashU REDCap projects in production mode are copied nightly with copies stored on a 30-day rolling basis. This means that 30 days of copies exist from a specific day at all times. These copies allow for recovery of data deleted in error, data that had the meaning changed due to project modifications, and other issues that may arise based on user activity. While we can recover data for these reasons, recovery could take several days and will require a $150 per hour fee for the time spent to recover. Depending on the amount data or other information you need to recover, you may choose to try to recover this information from the 1) Logging or 2) Project Revision History features in order to save time and money.
User Account Requirements
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