Storage

LIBSAFE allows for a dynamic definition of the storage space in which to keep the preserved objects. This means that the preservation system may be used at first without having to do the complete investment in storage space, while at the same time adapting to the always growing needs that appear over time.

Storage is configured through:

• Disks: where it is defined as the equivalent to a physical or logical disk, which must have a UNC path. It is possible to define as many disks as necessary, but in order to retrieve them from the system, it will be mandatory to follow a process that guarantees the preservation of the copies of the preserved object contained in other disks.

• Storage groups: they are disk sets which make up a logical storage unit. These groups are the storage directly related to a preservation plan.

Preserved objects are copied to a specific disk, depending on the association set by the preservation plan used for their ingestion. The preservation plan must have one or more storage groups associated to it; depending on the use priorities and the available space, the system will automatically assign the disk to which each object’s copy goes.

So, the system administrator must define the necessary storage groups first -although it is possible to define later-, and then assign de corresponding disks.

Important: the LIBSAFE system administrator should periodically check for free space in the system, so ingestion process can be done. Capacity should be checked for each individual storage group that is being used through the preservation plans. This monitoring should consider that not all use of space is equal in the different groups. There are predefined alarms to support this monitoring.