Every organization that handles data needs to be preserved for long-term use. It is crucial, especially for organizations that handle sensitive personal and financial information. There are many reasons why data storage and preservation are a must, but one of them is complying with regulations regarding data retention.
There are many data archiving solutions today, such as ArchiverFS. In fact, if you search online, you will find a list of archiving solutions, which makes choosing quite a daunting task. Before you give it a try, we will give you tips and guides to choosing long-term archiving solutions.
· Immutability
It is a must to make sure that the data stored in the archive is protected and unchanged so that when the time comes to pull up the data, it remains intact and unchanged. Look for cloud-based storage that uses WORM technology.Once the data is saved, it will be saved as read-only, so there will be no changes or modifications made to the files. If someone accesses the file, makes modifications, and saves it, it will be saved as a new file, thus preserving the integrity of the old file.
· Optimum security
Another important thing to make sure of is that the archived data must be safe from prying eyes. Hence, it is a must to ask the vendor beforehand how they implement data security. Data in-transit and at-rest must be encrypted. It should also give you the option to configure accounts using multi-factor authentication for an additional security layer.
· Flexibility
The archiving solution should allow you to easily ingest various types of data, be it structured or unstructured. It should be able to support any workload and be able to use metadata for data search and management purposes. It should be able to archive all types of data, such as project documents, videos, genomic data, backup files, messages, voice call recordings, and many more. It should be able to ingest data from a wide array of sources.
· Easy search option
Data archiving is done because you will need the data later on. It might not be sooner, but someday you will. As the archived data grows, you will need an archiving solution that lets you easily access the data you are most interested in. Look for an archiving solution that allows you to do a unified search of all your archived data. Through a single unified console, you will be able to search across all data with just a single query, thereby helping you save time and energy.
· Data tiering
Capacity and performance are the two determining factors for storage prices. It is more likely that you can easily retrieve data that you have recently stored as opposed to data that was stored a long time ago. When looking at data archiving solutions, you need to choose the one that has the ability to provide a cost-efficient storage tier for both of your recently archived data and data that was archived a long time ago. Look for an archiving solution that has built-in automated data tiering that enables you to easily configure it however you want to. You can most likely benefit from the pay-as-you-go model. With this model, you only pay for the resources you actually use.
· Scalability – Data always grows
That’s for sure. It is the very reason why you exceed storage space. Hence, when it comes to choosing an archiving solution, you have to choose the one that allows you to expand seamlessly, so there’s ample room for your data needs as they grow. Look for an archiving solution that is cloud-based so there is ample room for your growing data. What’s even great about this stuff is that you are only paying for the space you are actually using.
Data storage has been the primary concern for sectors or businesses that handle large volumes of data or files. While there are plenty of storage and archiving solutions today, not all of them can keep up with your needs, especially when it comes to storage and data security matters. Therefore, it is a must to consider all your archiving needs and match them to the archiving solutions available online. The factors mentioned above are just some of the things you need to consider when selecting a data archiving solution. Many people would be more concerned with the pricing than with the data archiving requirements themselves. However, more than the price, it is important to consider the services, features, and perks. It should be able to meet your data archiving needs as it will save you from trouble later on.
