Data Protection: Adapting To The Sea Change (IV)

Fixed content stored in active archives has different data protection and data retention requirements than active, frequently-changed data.

By implementing Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) and coordinating it with a data protection strategy, enterprises can improve the cost-effectiveness, availability and performance of their storage.

As information in the form of files or records ages, it tends to become fixed data that is unchanging data. That age varies from the time of creation (e.g., a check entered into the system) to a later time (e.g., closing a transaction in an online transaction processing system).

When fixed content data is “distilled” from its active changeable counterparts in an application to an “active archive,” the implications for data protection policies and management are significant.

The traditional backup process is not necessary for fixed content data. A piece of fixed content needs to be replicated after it is captured in an active archive, but no traditional backup process is necessary.

Copying the data to a full backup on a regular basis is an unnecessary use of resources since the correct number of data protection copies is already available.