Run your own resilient, sovereign data storage infrastructure

A hands-on workshop at IOSP 2026.

[ The event ]

IOSP 2026

The Institute of Open Science Practices is a four-day working event in Leiden, Oct 12–15, 2026. It is free to join and now in its third edition, and most of the time goes on building rather than talks. This workshop opens the Resilient Data & Sovereign Infrastructure track, one of four alongside Modular Research Components, VOWELS, and Funding Open Science & Open Source.

Signing up for this workshop also registers you for IOSP 2026.

Full programme · Register for the event only

Can’t join us in Leiden? Recommend a dataset instead.Tell us what at-risk data this network should store. See what it holds now.

[ The workshop ]

Build a sovereign data node as part of a resilient data cluster

We’re running a hands-on workshop where up to 20 participants each stand up their own sovereign data-archive server, link them together to form a researcher-owned network, and load them with at-risk datasets from their own fields, in collaboration with the data-rescue workshop that follows directly after. There are two ways to take part:

Take-home Raspberry Pi (10 of the 20 seats) — we provide a Raspberry Pi with 200–500GB of storage, furnished by the IPFS Foundation’s Implementations Fund. A Pi is a silent computer the size of a small, delicious block of Vermont cheddar cheese. It is designed to stay on, draw minimal power, and serve as a maintenance-free node in a network. The 10 Pi nodes will link together to form Resilient Network #1.
Laptop node (everyone else) — you set up your personal laptop as a member of Resilient Network #2, using the same software, the same knowledge, and the same skills as the Pi network.

A Raspberry Pi 5 in its white case beside a block of Cabot Vermont sharp cheddar of roughly the same size — For scale: the node, beside the block of Vermont cheddar.

Both networks are practically and nearly technically identical, and both hold identical copies of the data rescued later in the track. The only difference is the hardware: a Pi can be set up as a single-purpose unit, and left on a desk or in a closet for years on end; a laptop is your laptop… it moves with you, experiences regular hibernations and resets, and is used for multiple purposes.

Because the Pi machines are limited, we ask anyone taking one to commit ahead of time to setting it up at home after the workshop. For most people home setup means plugging it in, and running a command or two on your laptop to get it set up. You will be shown these steps at the workshop, provided with detailed instructions to follow, assisted by robust agent-skills, and have open communication with the workshop facilitators for months after the workshop to help you set your Pi up at home. Once the Pi is running at home, it is hands-off from then on.

The laptop network will also have these things! Though they will be slightly different.

This workshop is limited to 20 participants. Pis will be distributed based on sign-up responses. While the room is not first-come-first-serve, earlier sign-up will be a consideration should the room be over-booked.

You

Who’s standing up a node.

Your name *

Email *

Institution

For example “Leiden University”.

Field

For example “marine ecology”.

Where do you live? *

Geographic distribution greatly increases resilience of a data network.

Your node

Pi or laptop, and where it would live.

How do you want to take part? *

Which of these describe your home internet? *

Choose all that apply. “Honestly, no idea” is a fine answer.

Anchors

Both networks need a set of volunteers whose nodes become anchors for the rest of the network. Volunteering means changing one setting (a port forward) on your home router, about 15 minutes, done with the facilitators, provider permitting; it costs nothing, needs no maintenance, and the role can rotate to someone else later.

Who is your home internet provider? *

Providers differ in how easy they make the anchor role, so the name alone tells us a lot.

Do you have access to your home router’s settings? *

“No idea” is a normal answer.

Would you volunteer as an anchor? *

Data rescue

Do you have an at-risk dataset from your field you’d like the consortium to archive? *

Anything public that could vanish qualifies, whether a shuttered project’s archive, a dataset on a retiring server, or data whose funding ended. This commits you to nothing; the data-rescue workshop preps datasets too, so there will be plenty to hold either way.

The room

Which laptop will you bring? *

Everyone needs one, even the Pi network (used for setup and interfacing with the Pi). If you can’t bring one, tell us below and we’ll figure something out.

How comfortable are you in a terminal / command line / IDE? *

Every level is welcome; at this workshop an AI agent on your laptop does the typing. Your answer helps us pace the room.

Which of these have you used?

Choose all that apply. “None of these” is a fine answer — you’ll be fine.

Attending IOSP

Two answers the event registration acts on.

Space is limited, so a registration is not yet a guaranteed seat. We confirm by email.

Travel & financial supportMy participation depends on financial support.In an ideal world sponsorship covers travel and accommodation for all 100 participants. If we can’t reach that, this helps us prioritize who needs it most.

Aggregate statsOK to include my response in aggregated, non-identifying stats shared with sponsors and partners.Entirely optional, and it never identifies you. Sponsors fund the travel grants, and these numbers are how we show them who the room reaches.

Anything else?

Questions, accessibility needs, anything we should know.

Notes