WORM Volume Types | FAST LTA Dokumentation

The Silent Cubes storage system supports four different volume types, each of which carries out a particular kind of archiving:

WORM
WORM with Versioning
WORM with Retention Period
WORM with Retention Period and Versioning
WORM with Retention Period (RWRO triggered)
WORM with Retention Period and Versioning (RWRO triggered)
WORM with Retention Period (RWRO triggered, Autosave)

The volume type WORM is always available to you. The remaining three volume types, on the other hand, can only be used if you have purchased the long-term storage system together with the Compliance Option. With these volume types, the Silent Cube long-term storage system fulfills two essential compliance requirements: on the one hand, administrators can thereby demonstrate legally compliant storage. On the other hand, they can delete data after a defined period (retention date, see chapter 2).

Volumes with a retention period can also be created as RWRO-triggered variants, in which the actual archiving to the storage units is initiated by changing the file properties (from "Read/Write" to "Read Only").

Numerous options are available to you for each volume type.

In the following, you will learn which area of application each of the four volume types is ideally suited for.

Please also refer to the user manual of your archiving software - it may require a very specific volume type.

You can delete empty volumes; to do so, the retention period of all files stored on them must have expired. Only then can all files be deleted. To remove the volume, it must be completely empty (no directories remaining, all shares removed).

Volume Type WORM

A volume of the type WORM is particularly well suited for archiving data that should or must be preserved. The WORM volume behaves like a classic WORM storage: the long-term storage system "freezes" data stored in it, archives it permanently, and thereby protects it from any modification. Before the adjustable minimum age has expired, the files can still be modified. Once stored, however, the data can no longer be modified or even deleted, either by the administrator or by other users of the system.

Files that have been accidentally or incorrectly stored cannot be saved again under the same path and file name on the same share. Therefore, check that the copy operation was successful before the configured minimum age is reached and the data is thus permanently archived to the storage unit.

Volume Type WORM with Versioning

The volume of the type WORM with Versioning corresponds to the volume type WORM, but additionally offers versioning functionality. This allows an already archived file to be virtually overwritten. In doing so, revisions of a file are created, which can be accessed using special methods (Revert and Switch Revision). On request, the FAST LTA Support Team provides a separate background paper on the topic of versioning.

Volume Type WORM with Retention Period

Use the volume type WORM with Retention Period if data is to be preserved for a specific period of time. After that, the data should or must be deletable.

The volume type WORM with Retention Period archives data stored in the volume in the same way as the volume type WORM, but with one difference: each stored file is assigned a retention period (retention date). The retention period of a file is determined by its access timestamp or by the default retention period setting for the volume. Until this date, the data remains stored unchangeably in the file system and cannot be deleted. Only once the configured retention period has expired can users delete the corresponding files.

Files stored on this volume type are assigned a retention period that corresponds to at least the configured default value. If, for example, this default value is set to 5 years, every stored file remains unchangeable and non-deletable for at least 5 years (from the respective time of storage). If files with their own retention period (access timestamp) are stored that have a shorter retention period than this default, the access timestamp of these files is increased to the default value. Files with a preset access timestamp that is already greater than the default value are adopted unchanged.

The retention period of each file can be extended separately at any time via the access timestamp, but never shortened!

The associated data is not deleted from the storage units (but is deleted from the Head Unit). Internally, the long-term storage system severs the connection between the data and the file system. Access to the stored data is then no longer possible.

Regardless of whether the files are deleted from the file system or not, the storage space used on the storage units remains occupied even after deletion.Volume Type WORM with Retention Period and
Versioning

This volume type corresponds to the volume type WORM with Retention Period, but additionally offers versioning functionality (see chapter 3.2).

Volume Type WORM with Retention Period
(RWRO triggered)

The volume type WORM with Retention Period (RWRO triggered) is based on the volume type WORM with Retention Period, but does not use time-controlled archiving. The storage process only begins once the access rights of a file are set from "Read Write" (RW) to "Read Only" (RO), thereby making the file immutable. The access timestamp of a file is retained unchanged.

Please note: To ensure a proper archiving process, you should not manually store data on a volume of the type WORM with Retention Period (RWRO triggered), but should instead use suitable software for this purpose. Please only select this option if the application you use upstream of the long-term storage system is able to start the archiving process accordingly.

The trigger function of the software version you are using starts the archiving process on the Silent Cubes. In doing so, the access rights of the file to be stored are set to "Read Only" (manually under Windows: attrib +r <file>, Unix: chmod 0444 <file>, chmod 444 <file>, or chmod a-w <file>). If there are different users (both in Windows and in Unix environments), they may, under certain circumstances, only be able to write or modify their own files respectively.

In contrast to the (untriggered) volume type WORM with Retention Period, for this volume type the default value for the retention period set in the user interface only affects files that do not yet have an explicitly specified retention period (access timestamp). These files are assigned the default retention period. If files with an explicitly set retention period (access timestamp) are stored, this retention period is adopted, regardless of whether it is shorter or longer than the default value.

Volume Type WORM with Retention Period and Versioning (RWRO triggered)

Like the volume type WORM with Retention Period (RWRO triggered), the volume type WORM with Retention Period and Versioning (RWRO triggered) does not use time-controlled archiving, but instead becomes active only when access rights change. The access timestamp of a file is retained unchanged. In addition, this volume type supports storing different versions of a file. With a corresponding integration, upstream software can also access the various versions of the stored files individually.

Please note: To ensure a proper archiving process, you should not manually store data on a volume of the type WORM with Retention Period and Versioning (RWRO triggered), but should instead use suitable software for this purpose. Please only select this option if the application you use upstream of the long-term storage system is able to start the archiving process accordingly.

The trigger function of the software version you are using starts the archiving process on the Silent Cubes. In doing so, the access rights of the file to be stored are set to Read Only (Windows: attrib +r <file>, Unix: chmod 0444 <file>, chmod 444 <file>, or chmod a-w <file>). If there are different users (both in Windows and in Unix environments), they may, under certain circumstances, only be able to write or modify their own files.

Volume Type WORM with Retention Period (RWRO triggered, Autosave)

The volume type WORM with retention period (RWRO triggered, Autosave) accounts for the fact that some systems require temporary files, which change more frequently, in order to access the actual data. Only after switching from RW to RO do these files become immutable.

With the previous volume types, these temporary files were, prior to switching to RO, stored only in the cache of the Head Unit and not on the secure Silent Cube. In the event of a failure or technical problem with the Head Unit, these temporary files could be lost, which, depending on the system, could render the actual data unusable.

This volume type now introduces the Auto-Save function. With this, all data is always saved on the Silent Cube. Data that is still marked as RW is thereby "modifiable" and "deletable" - each of these actions results in a new file on the Silent Cube. Only when switching to RO are these files then marked as immutable.

Even though a new "version" of the file is created each time a temporary file is modified or deleted prior to switching to RO, these "versions" are not transparent - true versioning therefore does not take place. Only the latest version is ever visible; after "deletion" the file is removed.