Database archiving as a Vital Factor of Information Lifecycle Management (ILM)

Information lifecycle management (ILM) has evolved to define an approach for data management and cost-effective storage medium over time, based on its value for business. Database archiving is also pivotal for ILM as it helps eliminate redundant data stored in the production server. Data kept in storage networks have a defined lifecycle which is associated with the way information travels through an organization from its beginning till its removal. Data is usually stored in structured relational databases, semi-structured databases (emails), and unstructured databases (documents and graphics). Huge databases pose some very definite problems for information lifecycle management.

Large enterprises today are neck-deep with information flooded from all directions in their respective storage mediums. Unused data is continually eating up resources, and gobbling up the organization’s profits. Megabytes gave way to gigabytes, gigabytes have acceded to terabytes, and in the near future, terabytes is sure to escalate to petabytes. The data is growing relentlessly with organizations waking up to the reality of data explosion. The latest data retention clauses for pharmaceutical companies are at least 20 years while nuclear facilities will have to hoard data for 50 years. Database archiving helps in reducing costs, retaining data, and also aids in complying with regulation procedures.

Database archiving plays an important role in implementing ILM in a complex relational database. Removal of rarely accessed data releases the processing power and improves application performance and efficiency. Purging of irrelevant data also helps in implementation of new applications in the present hardware itself, without adding to any or little overheads. Additionally scheduled archiving releases a huge amount of disk space which is then utilized for other uses saving millions in software or hardware upgrades. Archiving provides a worthwhile solution to the data explosion problem, while cutting on the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

A comprehensive archiving solution archives data from a plethora of platforms. It is also expected to ensure referential integrity and help in restoring information when needed especially for business and compliance requirements. Additionally, the archiving solution should enable data retention in cost-effective mediums like a near-line on a file server, or disk-based WORM (Write-once-read-many type devices).

Implementing archiving strategies for databases is crucial for the efficiency of information lifecycle management.

Database archiving solutions: an Overview

Database archiving solutions are springing up with every coming day, but not at the pace at which information is just piling up in several enterprises. The consistent gigantic growth in the size and space of databases is known all over, but the integration of database archives into ILM (Information Lifecycle Management) strategies poses an overwhelming challenge for many database administrators. What once was measured in megabytes and gigabytes, have now given way to terabytes and petabytes. Storage is also a critical issue from the legal point of view because the latest rules and regulations for compliance have stressed that the organization must retain data for several years and availed at will for inspection.

Many companies and organization spend heavily in the maintenance of their databases but the worst part is that 85% of the databases are rarely used. The rest of the data is used in business operations and the decision-making process. Thus, overloaded databases hamper server performance to a great extent and restrict the use of comprehensive capabilities that various database applications were primarily designed to deliver.

A comprehensive database archiving methodology should be adept in archiving data from a variety of RDBMS and platforms. Database archiving solutions must ideally also ensure of the referential integrity and business context of the archived data and provide for easy access. In addition, there must be a cost-effective storage medium to store loads of data like tape or disk-based WORM devices. It is also important to take care that all resources and information are well looked after during ILM.

Database archiving solutions and software allows for archiving rarely accessed data which comprises of historical and referential data. The storage mediums used are basically for providing easy access - a critical requirement of most data retention legislation. The best mix of storage alternatives is recommended always. It is vital for the success for any enterprise to have its current data online and rest of the data archived in low-cost storage medium, which can be accessed quickly. This ensures a lucrative and cost-effective balance throughout ILM. Through archiving, the huge databases get restricted to a manageable size always thus improving the performance of critical applications and data. It also allows organizations to utilize existing data storage solutions and save on further expenditure.

ArchivePlus Meets Data Retention Compliance Standards Efficiently

Industry analysts have continually stressed on the need for data retention in enterprise databases. The size of the databases is estimated to be growing at the rate of 125% annually. On an average, about 80% of the data in various enterprise databases is estimated to be redundant or not used for real-time purposes, which makes it ready for archiving purposes.

The current rate of data growth has been astounding and the latest compliance measures cited by the government have made it mandatory for all organizations to retain much of their company data for inspection. These regulations were mostly proposed and enacted by the government in the light of several recent corporate accounting scandals. These laws state the procedures and rules to be implemented by various organizations for handling their business-critical data. The US government actually wants the companies to handle their corporate information in the best way possible. Out of all the regulations, the most critical and important happens to be periods specified for data retention.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, HIPAA and BASEL II are some of the laws and regulations related to data retention. It has been estimated that there are over 150 federal and state laws which elaborate extensively on the subject of data retention in the US. Today, the retention period is basically determined by the government itself. The data retention period which ranged from five to seven years are now crossing the barriers of 20 to 70 years.

Database Archiving is a widely-used process of plucking out selected records from operational databases which are not to be used quite often. The archived data is then stored in a non-erasable format like XML files where they can be searched and retrieved if needed.

ArchivePlus is a comprehensive database archive & purge solution created by Indusa Technical Corp. to boost enterprise database performance in a variety of ways. The database archiving solution is said to be built to address the most critical problems encountered due to data growth. Other than that, it solves the endless list of compliance requirements with its archiving and purging technology by promoting more retention of data.

ArchivePlus successfully helps in transferring redundant data from live production databases to database archives. With the process of the data conversion to XML format, ArchivePlus helps in maintaining the integrity and accessibility of information in those archives.