E-Newsletter Archive

E-vaulting Automates Offsite Backups to Prevent Costly Data Loss & Legal Fines  

The need for secure offsite data backups is becoming more vital to American businesses every day. New Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which took effect December 1, 2006, require backup data to be more accessible to opposing counsel than ever before. A recent article in the IT trade publication Byte & Switch states, “…the gist is that corporate lawyers must not only produce electronic documents in the event of litigation, but produce them as part of the pretrial process. If documents can’t be produced, a judge can slam a company with sizable penalties.” The investment firm Morgan Stanley was recently hit with a $15 million fine when it was unable to produce email evidence in court. Because of this new federal directive, maintaining proper backups is not just a good business practice anymore - it’s mandatory.

Fortunately, new technologies are making reliable on-line backup services more economical and accessible to more businesses than ever before. E-vaulting is a way for small to mid-size businesses to safeguard their most vital data and keep track of archival backups as well. Along with serving the traditional function of minimizing costly downtime, maintaining proper backups is now required to reduce the risk of penalties in litigation discovery.

E-vaulting works by transmitting data from the client’s network over the Internet to a storage device at a remote location. There are many different ways this is accomplished, and not all E-vaulting service providers are created equal. Records Management & Archiving (RMA) can now offer E-vaulting services with some unique functions and unsurpassed security to meet the needs of the most demanding clients.

The system provides the ability to set the frequency of backup intervals for individual applications or users on the network. The most critical applications, such as financial transactions, can be sent to the data vault every time there is a change. Less time-sensitive data, such as updated personnel records, could be backed-up at the end of the business day. The same functionality applies to individual machines or users. For example, the CFO may need to have their laptop backed-up more frequently than others in the organization. If someone accidentally overwrites a file, the last copy of that file can be retrieved from the data vault over the Internet. This is a much more efficient method than locating the data on a backup tape and retrieving it from a tape drive.

It is possible to use existing Internet connections because only block-level changes in data are sent to the offsite data vault. For example, if someone changes one word in a document, only the change is sent instead of the entire document. All data is compressed before it is transmitted, as well. These features reduce the bandwidth required to efficiently send updated data across the Internet.

Of course, the security of its information is a key concern of any business. To ensure the confidentiality of data sent to the offsite storage devices, all data is encrypted before it is sent over the Internet. The data remains encrypted while it is stored on the hard drives within the data vault. Permission levels can be set at the client’s location so only authorized personnel can access backup data.

The customized backup process also gives clients a great deal of control over their backup program costs. They can choose which applications are backed up, and the retention period for each application. Clients are charged only for the volume of data on RMA’s data storage system. When data is no longer needed on-line, it can be written to tape for archival storage in the data vault. A barcode-based media management system is employed to track the location of each media unit in the vault, so archival data can be located quickly. The media management software also creates inventory reports of all media for each individual client, which can be extremely valuable for audits and litigation requirements.

Keeping the data secure also requires multiple layers of security at the data vault facility. Only Records Management & Archiving offers this level of protection for clients’ critical data. RMA operates the only data-rated vault in the region, with a Firelock Class 125-3 hour vault. The Class 125-3 hour rating means the temperature inside the vault would remain below the critical 125o F. threshold for at least a three hour period, even if a there is a catastrophic fire with temperatures up to 2,000o F. outside the vault. Data is destroyed at just 125 degrees, so it is crucial to keep temperatures below this critical threshold. To prevent fire damage inside the vault chamber a VESDA early-warning fire detection system sounds an alarm when any indication that combustion could occur in the vault is detected. A clean agent fire suppression system in the vault linked to the VESDA unit is ready to protect against fire inside the vault. The Du Pont FE-25 gas used in the fire suppression system is non-conductive and leaves no residue, so it is safe to use with sensitive electronic equipment. Typical E-vaulting services house their equipment in standard construction rooms with some type of fire suppression system as the only layer of protection against data loss. Of course, RMA has taken many precautions to prevent fires in its facility, but when dealing with clients’ mission critical data you must protect against the worst-case scenario. When mission critical data is at stake, only a true data-rated vault can provide peace of mind.

In addition to the data-rated vault to protect the storage devices holding client data, RMA has installed the equipment necessary to provide the proper environmental conditions for high performance servers. A redundant HVAC system keeps the temperature and humidity inside the vault around 68-degrees and 30-40% R.H. The true HEPA filtration system in this dedicated HVAC loop purifies the air within the vault for a clean room-like environment. A battery UPS and power generator are on-line to prevent any downtime due to power loss. Physical security must also be addressed to protect vital data. A full perimeter alarm system, interior motion detectors, access control cards and multiple mantraps ensure that only authorized personnel can enter the data vault area.

As the cost of downtime escalates and new litigation discovery requirements are enforced, E-vaulting is becoming an increasingly attractive option for protecting mission critical data. Fortunately, as it is with most new problems, there are new solutions.

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