The Archive Specialist is different than a Storage Administrator who is focused on storage as a whole. An Archive Specialist is a data manager who is focused on the data in specific (e.g. data usage and data content) and making sure that it is on the most cost effective tier of storage for the correct amount of time. The goal of the Archive Specialist is to reduce the cost of storing data both in the form of capacity acquisition and capacity maintenance (power, cooling, backup and replication), as a result decreasing storage expenditures and maximizing storage efficiency.


The Old Ways Are Expensive


Expanding primary storage because it is the way it’s always been done is no longer cost justifiable. Several studies have indicated that the amount of inactive data on primary storage is now greater than 80%, in some cases it is approaching 90%. A better term for this data is non-transactional. Non-transactional data is data that still has some future value to the organization but is not needed on primary storage at that moment in time.


While it is true that primary storage has become less expensive each year, it is not as inexpensive as secondary storage. Also the impact of primary storage on other processes like backup and data replication is seldom measured nor is primary storage’s cost of power and cooling vs. secondary storage. The reality is however that all these areas of impact waste IT dollars.


Continuing to do things the old way are not only risks for the organization it may force the organization to cut personnel costs if data growth remains unchecked. An Archive Specialist may not only save the organization money and create their own job security; they may also save jobs within the data center.


The Active Archive


The goal for an Archive Specialist is to migrate as much of this non-transactional data as possible from primary storage. To do this the Archive Specialist needs to select a platform of storage to create a secondary storage tier. This tier must offer unique capabilities unlike any other available in the enterprise today. It needs more retention intelligence and greater cost savings than adding inexpensive SATA to a primary storage system. Ideally this platform also could have a form of power management intelligence so it can reduce that operational cost aspect of as well.


This secondary storage tier also needs to provide more ready access to data than tape or optical based systems. This tier should be called an Active Archive. The idea being that while this non-transactional data does not need to be on primary storage it does need to be online for access when it is needed.


Systems like those from Copan Systems provide the capabilities to enable this active tier of storage.


The most immediate cost justification is to eliminate upcoming primary storage purchases and flatten the curve of future purchases. The goal should be to make available for use 50% of the primary storage platform by moving old data to secondary storage. By implementing an ongoing archive process where data is routinely moved to the active archive as it ages, the Archive Specialist should be able to contain the growth of primary storage to no more than 3 - 5% per year. If this growth rate is compared to even the most modest of primary storage growth rates, the cost savings alone are substantial.


To accomplish these goals the active archive needs to be approachable and as easy to interact with as what the users are already used to; disk and a filesystem. For this tier to be successful it needs the ability to deliver the data back to users almost as fast as primary storage does and with little or no system administrator intervention. If this tier can not deliver data back to users in a timely fashion, they will resist the tier and ultimately the initiative will fail.


Driving Out Costs While INCREASING Efficiency


Reducing the ongoing costs of primary storage is not the only justification for the Archive Specialist. By establishing an active archive tier the archive specialist can actually increase overall IT staff productivity. While there are many technologies being discussed and utilized to consolidate IT resources like server virtualization (more server instances on fewer pieces of hardware) and storage compression and deduplication (more data on the same amount of storage) these components still need to be managed individually. The fact that more servers can fit in less physical space or more data can fit in less storage space does not address the fact that it all needs to be managed.


Archive is different. Archive moves the data out of the daily view and once stored on the active archive platform it does not need to be managed unlike old data on primary storage or protected data on backup storage. This data on almost a daily basis needs to be backed up and that storage needs to be managed. Moving this data out of the way could be the single most efficiency improvement that the IT staff will experience.


Litigation Readiness


The biggest cost justification may actually have nothing to do with primary storage and everything to do with litigation readiness. It is commonly accepted that nearly all legal cases now involve discovery of electronic data. It is very important to understand that legal actions in a down economy actually increase considerably, specifically around Human Resources related issues, including claims of wrongful termination.


Most companies that have this type of data stored in a backup format on multiple tapes are in danger of either not being able to respond to those discovery requests or being slow to respond. The Archive Specialist responsible of discovery or disposition of data may be unknown when stored on multiple tapes. In either case fines, or worse, presumption of guilt can result.


An Archive Specialist that creates an active archive can help the company avoid those costs. This tier should feature a power managed disk pool that can be quickly spun up in seconds to respond to any search requests. Further it can be content indexed so that rapid queries can result in the exact information being found, greatly reducing the legal costs that can result from a discovery request. 


What would an organization pay an employee that reduces storage acquisition costs by over 75%, reduces backup infrastructure costs by 50% and protects the organization from costly legal fees? While the price has not been set for such an individual or team, it is certainly safe to assume that their job would be very secure, and in economic times like these, that may be all the justification needed to become the organization’s Archive Specialist.