I’d like to explain the many ways that information and data will be lost in a typical datacenter. Note that I say, will be lost. Data loss is inevitable, Information is lost the more it is handled, copied, moved, replicated, migrated, and as it ages.
The point is that Loss happens. Let me say that you can not stop data loss? The key questions are “How much will be lost?” “Do you care?” and “what can we do to reduce it?” Here is what I mean by lost?
There are 4 principle classes of loss.
The first category I call poor storage practices. By this I mean several things. In a relatively large file system with millions to trillions of files distributed across multiple sites, servers, desktops, test databases, DR sites, and remote web-servers or service providers trust me, lots of files will be misplaced and effectively lost by users and the system. Loss occurs if you can’t find it, read it, or interpret it. I’d doesn’t matter how it was caused. All these are valid forms of loss.
Additional storage problems come from poor doc control practices such as losing track of versions or ‘official records’ and are compounded if you are using external services. What happens when files are sent offsite to a web host or storage service and if those services are down, corrupted, or go out of business and you can’t get your files back, Loss happens. As we move into focusing on Cloud Storage we’ll hear more of this problem surfacing. Remember, You risk fines or other penalties during litigation if information can not be discovered and produced. This is a cost of loss.
The second class of loss is through poor security practices. the most obvious is when a hacker or employee gets through your firewalls and takes information, views confidential or private information, or changes or damages information. We have all heard countless stories now of lost notebooks or tapes containing millions of records with personally identifiable information. Those all count as forms of loss. One of the worst nightmares in litigation evidence control is when an ex-employee shows up with historical files and emails that you don’t have since you followed your retention and deletion protocols and permanently deleted them on schedule. They took them while employees and now potentially have an advantage. Perhaps the only perspective to have on losing information is one of damage control and recovery. If you think otherwise, consider the next class of challenges.
The third class of loss is through human or operational errors. Human error is the number one cause of damage or loss and we are not likely to change that fact. It manifests in many ways, but the pertinent issue is whether or not your recovery systems work. Here’s the test. Your systems are faithfully backed up. But, how often and how thoroughly have you tested recovery? Backup works great when it is write once, read never. But, you might be surprised how often recovery is compromised. The alternative is to rebuild information from scratch. Costs estimates to do this vary ranging between $5k to $50k per Megabyte. Factor that thinking into your recovery strategies. ‘
The fourth class of loss is caused by process or practice errors. First – inappropriate deletion processes. Deletion is good. You must delete expired and disposable information when you can otherwise all you are doing is driving up operating costs, storage costs, and risk.
But, do it wrong and you may cause ‘spoliation’. Make sure your processes are correct and cleared with legal and then audit them.
Next, mistakes occur and here are two examples:
1st – during litigation evidence processing, if you lose authenticity, damage chain of custody, the evidence is as good as lost. You may not be able to present it.
2nd – during migration events many things such as these can happen. It is safe to say that Migration causes damage. After two migrations most IT people will openly admit they have lost some portion of the information. Migration data loss is significant. That is why all digital information is at risk long-term. We just don’t have good physical and logical migration practices in place as an industry.
For long-term retention and preservation I strongly urge you to get expert help. Talk to me!