Granite is a secure research environment used to protect highly-sensitive data. While Granite helps us meet the challenging technological requirements for keeping data safe, we must also consider user expectations and behaviors. We therefore require a minimal set of training prior to accessing Granite:
Cybersecurity Training - All users will take a 1-2 hour online course offering through Dartmouth’s Information Security department. Granite Support will help coordinate that training.
Research Compliance Training - All users will additionally demonstrate proof that they’ve taken at least one of the following CITI course related to Human Subject Research:
CITI Group 1: Biomedical Research
CITI Group 2: Social/Behavioral Research
CITI Group 3: Biomedical Data or Specimens Only Research
If users have not previously taken one of these courses, we recommend taking either one of the above courses, or CITI Responsible Conduct of Research
These training requirements are separate from any training required by your IRB
Requirements: Granite Onboarding Documentation
When initiating a new project, we ask that every Principal Investigator fill out an online
Granite Project Form. This form contains basic project and contact information that is used to setup and enable your new Granite environment. The form is available online at
https://dartgo.org/granite-project-form
We require that every user who will access Granite fill out a
Granite User Agreement. The purpose of this form is to ensure that all users of data stored in Granite agree to and accept responsibility for compliance with the physical, administrative, and technical controls required by your Data Use Agreements (DUAs). This form is available online at
https://dartgo.org/granite-user-agreement
Monthly Patching
On a monthly basis, Granite Support updates all of the Granite Virtual Machines (VMs) with the latest Windows and Linux patches, as well as any updates to the underlying Granite applications. This typically happens on the third Thursday of every month from 6 AM - 10 AM, and we reach out to all Granite users the Monday prior for planning purposes. Emails are sent out to the Granite community upon completion of the work.
Software Packages and Updates
As Granite VMs are by policy not connected to the Internet, we maintain a locally accessible repository of R (CRAN) and Python packages (PyPI), among others.
On Linux VMs, this repository is available from /opt/software.
On Windows VMs, this repository is available as a network drive (S:).
The local/mirrored repositories are currently updated twice a year.
If you have need of specific packages that are not available on the shared repository, please reach out to
granite.support@dartmouth.edu. Be sure to include any dependencies you need as well as the name/version of the package itself. For python users, providing a requirements.txt file is helpful. We will work with you to make the package(s) accessible on this local repository.
Managing User Permissions on Virtual Machines (VMs)
Setting permissions for users on virtual machines can lead to security vulnerabilities, user access problems, and/or issues with application functionality.
As such, Granite Support manages the setup and configuration of user permissions and access directories on all Granite VMs.
At project setup, Granite Support will work with project leaders to discuss needs, establish and document security goals, and configure directory permissions accordingly.
Updates to directory permissions can be made on an as-needed basis by putting in a support ticket with
granite.support@dartmouth.edu.
The ability to transfer data in and out of the VM is handled separately and also by Granite Support. On a case-by-case basis, we allow certain users from each project the ability to transfer files in/out, based on each project’s DUA, and can update who has this level of access.
Notification of Project Personnel Changes
It is the Principal Investigator’s (PI) responsibility to notify Granite Support of any personnel changes to any project(s) they have in Granite. Please reach out to Granite Support as soon as possible if there are personnel changes to your research team so that we can update user access accordingly.