Functional requirements of an electronic archives system

Electronic archives systems are characterised by the following independent characteristics:

program-supported, direct access to individual information objects, also documents mentioned, or information collections, e.g. lists, containers with several objects etc.

administration of the information objects on basis of meta data and if necessary full text development of contents of the archived information objects

Support of different indexing and search strategies, in order to be able to access the looked for information directly

Uniform and common storage of arbitrary information objects, of the scanned facsimile over Word files and enamels up to complex XML structures, lists or whole data base contents

Administration of memory systems with only once recordable media including the access to media the no more in the memory system directly are not

Sicherstellung of the availability of the stored information about a longer period, which can amount to decades

Supply independently of information objects of that it originally producing application to different Clienten and with delivery to other programs

Support of "„class concepts "“for the simplification of the collection by transmission of characteristics and structuring of the information basis

Converter to the production from on a long-term basis stable archives formats and Viewer to the announcement of information objects, for which originally producing application is not to no more at the disposal

Security of the stored information objects against unauthorized access and against changeableness of the stored information

Access and brisk supply of the information quick spreading administration of different memory systems, in order e.g. by buffer (Caches) to ensure

Standardized interfaces, in order to be able to integrate electronic archives as services into arbitrary applications

Independent re-establishment functionality (Recovery), in order to be able to develop inconsistent or disturbed systems from itself, become, loss-free again

Secure logging of all changes in structures and information objects, which can to endanger and document the consistency and relocating barness, how the information in the archives system was processed

Support of standards for the special recording of information on memory with WORM procedures to ensure for stored documents and for the information objects describing meta data around a long-term availability and migration security

Support of automated, comprehensible and loss-free migration procedures

All these characteristics were intended to clarify that it does not concern hierarchical memory management or conventional data protection. Electronic archives systems are a class for itself, which as subordinate services into each IT-infrastructure belong.

Storage technologies for electronic archiving

With the electronic storage technologies one must make today a separation between the administrative and control software on the one hand and for the actual storage media on the other hand. Conventional magnetic storage media are not considered as suitably to electronic archiving, since the stored information can be changed and overwritten at any time. This concerns in the special measure non removable disks, which are administered dynamically by operating systems. Magnetic influences, "„Head Crashs "“and other risks assigned the role of the pure on-line memory to the non removable disks. With magnetic tapes it was added apart from the deletability that these high loads and wear as well as magnetic overlays with to long keeping are subject. In the 80's therefore special digitaloptical storage media were developed, which can be described in their drive assembly with a laser non-contact only once. This storage technology calls one WORM "„Write Once, READ multiple one of Time "“. The storage media were protected by their physical characteristics from changes and offered a substantial higher life span than those up to then admitted magnetic media.

Into this category of storage media today the following types fall:

CD-WORM

Only once recordable Compact disk media with approx. 650 megabyte of storage capacity. The memory surface of the medium is irreversibly changed during the writing. CD media are standardized and economical by the ISO 9660. The quality of some cheap media is to be judged however a long-term archiving as not sufficiently. For drive assemblies and media there are numerous offerers. The control of the drive assemblies is supported directly by the operating systems.

DVD WORM

Similarly as the CD with the DVD WORM the memory surfaces irreversibly in the medium one changes. DVD are at present not yet uniformly standardized and offer different storage capacities between 4 and 17 gigabyte. With the employment for archiving therefore on it the drive assembly and media the requirements of the long-term availability are become fair to respected. There are also here numerous offerers and most drive assemblies also directly by the usual operating systems is supported.

5 "“WORM

With these media and drive assemblies it concerns the traditional technology, which was developed particularly for electronic archiving. The media are in a sleeve and are better secured therefore against environmental influences, than CD and DVD, which were developed for the Consumer market. The media are described with a laser and to offer an extremely high tamper-resistantness. The present state of the art are so-called Udo media, which use a blue laser and offer a storage capacity of 50 gigabyte. Future for each medium is to be counted on still clearly higher capacities. It is unfavorable that media of the preceding generations of 5 "“- media in the new drive assemblies not to be used can. By these still several different technologies at the market are available. For the connection of 5 "“- drive assemblies is necessary special driver often commodity.

For the administration and use of the media so-called Jukeboxen, is common disk exchange automat. These make software-supported the necessary information available from media. The software makes possible it usually also to also administer media which do not have to be any more in the Jukebox and be supplied manually on requirement. The software for the control of Jukeboxen is integrated directly into the archives often commodity in addition, offered as independent control software. For the connection of Jukeboxen one avails oneself usually own server, which takes over also the administration and the Caching. In the meantime such systems can be used in addition, as NAS network attached STORAGE or integrated in SAN STORAGE AREA network. The software makes thereby respectable access and supply times possible, which guarantee as a rule a sufficient period of reply behavior.

Beside these classical archives memory, which is based on rotary, digitaloptical change media, in the meantime two further technologies step:

CAS content Adressed STORAGE

Here it concerns non removable disk systems, which achieve the same characteristics as a conventional WORM medium by special software. An overwriting or changing of the information on the memory system by coding with storage and the special addressing one prevents. With this memory concerns it final subsystems, which can be however almost integrated like conventional non removable disk systems directly into the IT-environment. They offer storage capacities with high performance within the Terabyte range.

WORM Tapes

WORM Tapes are magnetic tapes, which likewise fulfill the requirements by several combined characteristics to a conventional WORM medium. To it belong special volume media as well as protected cartridges and special drive assemblies, which guarantee a mark describability. Particularly in computing centres, in which volume robots and LIBRARY systems are already present, the WORM Tapes represents a component for long-term archiving, which can be integrated simply. The existing steering wheel often commodity can deal with the media and automate also appropriate Umkopieren and protection.

Particularly for larger enterprises and administrations with computing centres non removable disk or WORM Tape archives represents an option, since they can be integrated simply into the current enterprise.

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