Solution Benefits
- Preserves Data Unaltered – Alliance's solutions are based upon true Write-Once-Read-Many (WORM) optical technology. Encrypted data is written to optical media after which it becomes unalterable remaining intact for periods greater than 50 years.
- Encryption – With this optional feature, data at-rest is encrypted with unique keys for each object using FIPS 140-2 compliant AES-256 encryption algorithm. Encryption adds another layer of security to your data enabling compliance with specific regulations and ensuring that all data remains confidential.
- Transmission Security and Integrity – Alliance's NAS solutions integrate seamlessly with existing storage networks presenting as a standard TCP/IP resource with support for CIFS, NFS, and FTP protocols. The server security-administration ensures that it can recognize and approve validated clients.
- Email and Image Archiving – Partnering with industry-leaders, Alliance's solutions integrate with third-party software applications that manage and sort email and images according to the internal policy guidelines established within that application. The images and email are then stored efficiently and securely on Alliance's NAS optical libraries that fit directly into the existing storage network. Note that a Direct Attached library can be used however, it will require a third-party software application.
- Scalable/Expandable Archiving – Expandable optical disk archive systems are based upon high-capacity media magazines and scalable robotic libraries. As data storage requirements increase, libraries can be easily expanded within the same footprint offering investment protection through capacity expansions and future-proof system upgrades.
- High Reliability – Alliance's NAS solutions and Direct Attached scalable robotic libraries are based upon field-proven, reliable technology that has served a variety of industries [for over a decade].
- Rapid & Random Access to Data – Data can be randomly accessed either from the nonlinear optical disc media archives (retrieved into RAID) or via high-performance RAID, depending upon established policies.
- Low Total Cost of Ownership - After the data is permanently written on the media, it no longer requires a constant power source to maintain the data. This greatly reduces costs associated with storing archived data for the required lifespan. Additionally, the removable media offers an affordable disaster recovery solution. Systems reduce overhead and operating costs by: minimizing the cost and frequency of data migrations through extended media life, removing static data from expensive primary and backup systems freeing up valuable resources, and lowering power, cooling and maintenance costs. Systems scale incrementally as data archiving needs expand.
Government Regulations
Some of the regulations facing Governments:
- European Union Data Retention Regulations – requires collection and storage of the IP address and time of use of every email, phone call and text message. Retention periods may vary according to industry.
- National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) – defines recommendations and guidelines for maintaining federal records including electronic storage of records, retention periods, disaster recovery, and unauthorized alteration or erasure.
- Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) – requires electronic data retention policies for each entity under its jurisdiction. Existing records must be maintained for five years. Destruction thereafter is not permitted if an investigation or formal litigation involving the affected entity is ongoing.
- Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) – assures public records are available for review for the length of the record’s retention schedule. Participating agencies follow approved two year record schedules for full grant responses, and six years for all others.
- Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) –U.S. Federal Government contractors and sub-contractors must adhere to specific record retention requirements for contract documents with varying retention periods from two to four years.
- State & Federal Court Systems – each state has its own set of requirements for record retention based upon the type of data or records with separate mandates for Federal courts.
- Social Security Administration (SSA) – All SSA financial records and supporting documents must be retained for a period of three years, and so on.
- U.S. Forestry Service – retains records indefinitely.
Case Studies
Customer Experiences
The Housing Authority of the County of Alameda
The Housing Authority of the County of Alameda (HACA) operates a number of housing programs administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, providing low-cost rental housing and rental assistance for low-income families, the elderly, people with disabilities, and others in Alameda County, California. “Our OnBase system is able to write to all storage end-points signifi cantly faster, ensuring data is committed for permanent protection quickly” said Irv Aragon. “And with hybrid cloud, the NETArchive system automatically and effi ciently archives all data to our AWS S3 cloud storage, eliminating the time-intensive and manual offsite backup processes we have struggled with for years. The NETArchive behaves like any of my other storage servers, but gives me the peace of mind that my data is backed up and protected. I sleep much better knowing that my critical archive data is being seamlessly protected and is there should any disaster recovery event occur”. Click to download the case study.
Sangamon County Circuit Clerk’s Office
The Sangamon County Circuit Clerk’s Office is charged with maintaining the official records of all cases filed and/or adjudicated in the Seventh Judicial Circuit. It is located in the county seat, Springfield, IL, the state capitol. As the administrative arm of the court system, it handles all requests for court records from its constituents – the general public and members of the judicial system. “Our major issue was time lost chasing documents. With the implementation of the archive solution, retrieval times went from days to seconds” said Tony Libri, the Sangamon County Circuit Clerk. Click to download the case study.
The Coal Authority
The Coal Authority of Britain, established in 1994, has statutory responsibilities related to licensing of coal mining operations in Britain, not directly associated to licensed coalmine operators. The Authority is required to provide public access to information regarding past and present coal mining operations going back to the Coal Mining Act of 1872. To accomplish this and meet government mandates, a Plasmon digital archive solution consisting of UDO Optical Libraries was installed, along with QSTAR archiving software, to store all artifacts (mining maps, plans, historic photos, and documents) from the United Kingdom dating back to 1872) as mandated by Parliament for public access. Click to download the full case study
Phoenix Police Department CSI Unit
With the Phoenix CSI unit’s movement to digital photography, it was crucial to find a comprehensive archival storage solution that would ensure the integrity of each and every CSI photograph. In addition, record-retention laws regarding evidence in the state of Arizona often require photographs to be held for decades or indefinitely. Phoenix CSI chose a Plasmon® 638 G-Series™ archive library, with a nearline capacity of 38TB’s, to ensure the authenticity of their chain of evidence. Plasmon’s UDO™ (Ultra Density Optical) media format satisfied the department’s need for a WORM technology, as well as providing it with a cost-effective solution that delivers safe, long-term storage for highly sensitive images. Click to download the full case study
