Bingo. We've been teaching this for years.
And I don't think you need to go out much beyond five years to have a
really big problem. Never mind 25.
I met an Admin once that was talking about their archive retention. And
I asked her how she planned on reading her old round tapes. She said,
"Kelly, they said I had to keep them. They didn't tell me I'd have to
read them..."
I think she may have missed the point, but at least had a leg to stand
on.
Kelly J. Lipp
VP Manufacturing & CTO
STORServer, Inc.
485-B Elkton Drive
Colorado Springs, CO 80907
719-266-8777
lipp AT storserver DOT com
-----Original Message-----
From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU] On Behalf Of
Nicholas Cassimatis
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 11:11 AM
To: ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
Subject: [ADSM-L] Fw: Database move
"ADSM: Dist Stor Manager" <ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU> wrote on 11/08/2007
12:25:56 PM:
> -----Paul Zarnowski wrote: -----
>
> >Your avenue is export / import. Not pretty if you have a lot of data.
> >And I'm talking about the data, not just the database.
> >As I believe more people will be interested in switching server
> >platforms as time goes by, I would really like to see IBM provide
> >some better migration tools for helping sites transition from one
> >server platform to another. TSM is a high-end solution, and needs
> >better tools in this area (IMHO).
>
> I work for a hospital. We are required to retain some clinical records
> for as long as 25 years (a former pediatric patient gets a seven year
> window after his or her eighteenth birthday to decide whether to sue
> the hospital). We are required to maintain information on employee
> health for the lifetime of the employee.
> We can't realistically commit to staying with our current server
> platform for decades to come, and the prospect of exporting and
> importing would get increasing daunting as long-lived archives
> accumulated. We are currently looking at options for long-term
> archiving of digital data, and the poor support for platform changes
> is a major point against using TSM.
You've got to ask if it's reasonable to expect to be able to be running
the same system in 25 years as you are now. Consider this - many people
aren't using the same tape technology they were 5 years ago! And
there's more layers after that - should you be able to provide the data,
will there be an application available to use it? And an OS that will
run the application? And a machine that will run the OS?
A 25 year (or lifetime - ouch!) retention requirement needs more than
"keep the data in the backup system" as a solution. There needs to be
an overall plan to be able to use the data, otherwise retaining tapes
for decades on end is just an exercise in frustration.
Try to find a 5.25" disk drive, some fanfold wide-format (green-bar)
printer paper, and a ribbon for a Panasonic KX-P2124 printer. OK, now
do it without going to eBay - is anyone comfortable with "buy it on
eBay" as part of a legal discovery process? All of that was readily
available 15-20 years ago, but today, well...
If you, as the TSM Admin, are left responsible for the ability to
retrieve data after the durations you're talking about, you need to
raise the flag now that, at best, you can control your part of it, but
there are a LOT of other ducks that need to be in that row.
Nick Cassimatis
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