Subject: | |
From: | |
Reply To: | |
Date: | Tue, 27 Jun 2006 10:41:07 -0400 |
Content-Type: | text/plain |
Parts/Attachments: |
|
|
>John M, correct me if I am wrong, but I do not believe that I have ever
>seen anything the states that the evidentiary value of a document stored
>on WORM is greater than the same document stored on a hard drive.
The evidentiary value doesn't give an advantage to WORM over other
media, but that basically assumes that your records management
procedures can stand up behind the documents. Of course, most
organizations aren't doing a good job when it comes to consistency or
security. That means it is easy to say that a document didn't follow
the 'proper' procedures and how we know that is the right document.
What WORM does provide is a general belief that the data cannot be
altered. The SEC regulations regarding "write-once" technology are
probably the best known, but there are a few others that pop up
around the country by ill-informed but well-meaning government
officials. A few years ago AIIM had to help kill some federal
legislation that would have inadvertently forced WORM storage.
The term and the technology have evolved to include a lot more than
WORM disks. EMC has been very successful in pushing their Centera
product. It uses magnetic media, but acts like a WORM disk in terms
of it being impossible (well, nearly) to change the data. It was
specifically produced as a way to handle SEC transactions, but EMC's
sales people have pushed it for use in "fixed address content"
applications even when it isn't necessary from a business perspective.
As for CD disk longevity, there was a vendor that did offer
certification for their LE-100 optical disks that went beyond media
replacement. I think it was Sony, but don't remember now. In any
case, they don't offer it now. The differences in life expectancy
are a little misleading anyways: the same manufacturing process was
usually used for an LE-35 or an LE-100 disk. The only difference was
how much money the vendor spent to do the certification. Disks to
delaminate and are vulnerable to environmental factors and we've seen
disks delaminate in as little as 18 months.
But media hasn't been a problem for a long time and neither have file
formats: even today I can ready a 5.25" disk with a Volkswriter
file. But it does become more important. Our general recommendation
to customers is that they update the media and drives no later than 7
years from their initial purchase and to do a review every three
years. At the time of the review, if they aren't confident of the
media and drives being available for another five years they should
plan on a conversion within the next four years.
-Dan
Dan Elam
Vice President
804-342-7400
Visit www.eVisory.com for unbiased information regarding document and
records management technology.
List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance
|
|
|