File Version and Archive
File Versioning and Archive
2.435 Billion Terabytes. Imagine those 1TB drives you can get at the electronics store for under $100, and stack up 2.5 billion of them. That is what IDC predicts we will create in NEW (not old) digital data in 2012. You need to organize and classify your data before it grows out of control.
AIMstor provides the ability to easily Archive any classification of data, on a fully automated basis, by using the Version Operation. The Version operation allows selection of number of versions, retention, where to store versions, and various access management and tracking capabilities for each version.
When applying this to archive requirements, particularly those affiliated with Compliance and Governance, AIMstor can both greatly simplify tasks, and greatly empower the combination of tasks into a single workflow and policy.
AIMstor's compliance and governance capabilities can benefit many vertical industries:
- Healthcare
- Government
- Financial Services
- Education
- Research and Development
- Defense / Intelligence
- Multi-Media
- Feature
- Benefit
- Real-Time Management
- AIMstor operates in real-time, so tracking can be triggered immediately, by someone touching or changing file data in some way, such as creating, modifying, copying, deleting, moving, and more.
- Auto Classification
- Data Classifications are assigned to files the moment they are created. In this way, AIMstor guides and manages your data through a myriad of business processes that different departments may impose upon it. Perhaps several departments have different policies for the same set of data, or the same file.
- Forensic Tracking
- Archived file versions are tracked in real-time. Offering you "up-to-the-second" forensic reporting on touches to any specific file or data set.
- Lifecycle Tracking
- File versions are simply part of the AIMstor unified data protection and disaster recovery strategy. Using a centralized source of authority, AIMstor provides a simple, yet comprehensive umbrella over all data.
- Searchable Repository
- All data is indexed based on file name and attributes, and searchable based on many flexible parameters.
- Offline Tracking & Blocking
- Laptops that are used offline, or machines that lose their network connection, can still maintain requirements for tracking, logging and blocking of specific behaviors regarding certain data.
- Behavior Modification and Alert
- Control user behavior through policies and classifications that are assigned the moment data is created. By combining Classification types with Track, Block and other Operations, the level of control you exert, and the variety of policies you implement, are only limited by your imagination.
- Unify Archive & Data Protection
- Why have separate backup, archive and disaster recovery tools, when AIMstor can unify it all under a single, simple umbrella? Unifying Compliance for archive, data protection and disaster recovery, is now a reality.
- Protect Intellectual Property
- By implementing creation to archive tracking with AIMstor, you can easily view the subsequent chain-of-custody of all files within your policy parameters.
- Fast Migration of All Data and Logs
- Being able to export data to a live file system for locked down audit review and file search is easily done using AIMstor. You can restore or replicate specific data based upon policies pertaining to certain data, or the whole set of data. You can also easily replicate current live file systems from all machines within the AIMstor domain.
- Defending Your Company's Position
- Judges have issued steep fines to major companies for their inability to provide all data arising from items under dispute. AIMstor allows the start to finish snapshot of the totality of data, all originals, copies, changes and even deleted items, together with tracking history.
- File Change Aware
- Unlike backups that are taken at set intervals, versions are taken when a file changes. For instance, when applied to office documents, every time a document is saved, the version is retained and indexed. This action allows a history of a file to be generated showing how the file changed during the generations. To fully facilitate audits and e-discovery, the extra information is retained, providing the file owner, plus which user and which program modified the file.
- Optional Unified Backup and Archive
- Versioned and Archived files can instantly become part of the normal backup, deduplication and CDP cycle. Flexible retention, intelligent metadata and object data management provide exponential value through a unified approach.
- Optional Unified Data Protection
- Users can upgrade anytime to combine more tools for end-to-end data management and unified workflow in a single application.
- Instant WORM Disk Capability
- Combined with the Operation called "Block", AIMstor can turn a portion of the primary storage disk into a WORM file system in seconds. WORM (Write Once, Read Many) capability can come in quite handy when you decide to transfer versions from the AIMstor Repository to a WORM for audit or legal review.
- Immutable Log Tied to Metadata
- AIMstor metadata tags are digital fingerprints of the saved content. AIMstor logs are immutable and cannot be overwritten and it enforces an organization's retention and disposition policies intrinsic in the storage. The result is that repository information is non-erasable before its retention period expires and, if desired, it can also be configured so that information is kept forever.
Repository Search
The ability to search repository data via a wide range of definable parameters, such as file extension type, user, owner, and many others, and, the ability to browse past snapshot histories, is not just a great way to facilitate user level restore empowerment, it is also an important way for IT managers and users to understand the overall data itself.
The AIMstor architecture is built on top of search engine technology, allowing real-time Tag-Store-Index of all files and data. The unified metadata store provides a platform built for today, and the future.
Active Archive from Backup?
Because Cofio's AIMstor Repository provides many parameters for incredibly fast Search and Restore of files, it can be used quite easily as a disk-based Active Archive that provides fast "retrieval" of searchable files and file versions.
In the image below, AIMstor shows a full file history with changes captured along the timeline using Version. Restore of particular versions from any specific point in time can help maintain compliance consistency.
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Several AIMstor Operations can be used to create one single policy for many types of Data Protection and Compliance. Version can be combined with Backup for full retention and high performance deduplication of all data, while still maintaining granular, real-time File Versions. Version can also be teamed up with Track to find the Who, What, When of all touches to the Versioned files.
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AIMstor shows a full file history with changes captured along the timeline using Version. In addition, applying Track to the same policy will show forensic details of all changes and creations. Restore of particular versions from any specific point in time can help maintain compliance consistency. In this example, with 32 million files in this repository, the Version and Tracking search came back with the results in less than 1 second.
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Flexible Index and Search for Data Protection and Archive
AIMstor utilizes advanced index/search technology as part of its core platform, to provide users with optimized search capabilities for seeking and accessing data. You have the ability to Search for files based on a variety of different parameters. You can also browse via snapshots, and Versions are presented within the same view.
Centralized Backup Archive that can Search
Using AIMstor as a centralized and searchable archive is also convenient, as all data from multiple file servers, laptops, desktops and storage devices will reside within the AIMstor Repository, simply as a result of their backups.
It all amounts to a next-generation backup and archive approach that only Cofio offers.
