Researchers need to store and access active data for their work. They often use local storage devices and email to manage their data, but these methods lack resilience. Institutions provide network storage, but their systems are rarely used by researchers for active data access and sharing. An ideal solution would transparently synchronize local and network storage, providing both the convenience of local access and the resilience of network attached storage. However, there are challenges to managing active research data at large scales, including file sizes, storage locations, costs, ease of use, network transfers, versions, and access rights that institutions aim to address.