Using Archiving Software with Different File Systems – Things to Know
Archiving software is designed to help organizations conserve their disk space for better objectives. Files tend to go obsolete with time and sometimes are retrieved only for auditing and reference purposes. If it is a customer data, then the files devoted to this information will be accessed only to send important communications at launches, releases or other relationship building events.
Thus, there is a need to archive such files. Archiving means transferring of the less used, aged and extraordinarily large files to secondary file storage system. Since every organization may be following their own system of managing files, the software for archiving need to be compatible with all prevalent filing systems.
Using archiving software with DFS
To make archiving software compatible with Windows based filing system, it is developed in NTFS format. The file archiver in NTFS format can easily work with Distributed File System or DFS. Using DFS as the live target location, the following of UNC path is recommended. To use UNC path, certain additions are to be made. First, live locations are added to the job and also the target archive locations and related shortcuts and their migrations are handled using UNC path.
To make the use of UNC path seamless for archiving purposes, it is suggested that the domain root path should be used. Using local server path can cause confusion due to various servers residing on the network and transmitting the data simultaneously. It can lead to ambiguity at various levels.
DFS based file system is put to use when the multiple geographical locations are serviced simultaneously. This process involves replication without making any special arrangements. Thus, the possibility of replication is also to be managed while archiving documents in DFS arrangement. To address the issue of replication, following procedure is followed:
- Firstly, disable the maintenance function
- Start running the first job
- Also, keep a track of replication process
- Once the replication queues are cleared; then resume the maintenance job.
When DFS based destination is the final target for archiving, then the best way is to archive the DFS root and then replicate it on all the networking nodes. The retrieval in this case involves use of WAN and for managing access requests from stubs or links, LAN will be put to use. Know more here about how archiving software is made compatible with DFS.
Archiving on NAS or any other device
Some archiving softwares make use of UNC paths to transfer old and unused files from the live system to the archive. The stubs are left behind in the live system to help the user find the path to retrieving the file in archive. The same process is applied for transferring files from server or any NAS share or a folder.
To add further to the convenience, the user can select the attributes of the files to be archived. Common attributes to consider are size, type and age. Sometimes, the age factor can be a bit ambiguous as the term of all projects is not fixed.
To streamline the process of archiving, the structure of archiving system is almost the mirror of the live file system. This is helpful at many levels. The most important advantage is that the locating of archived files becomes easier and so does the process of reaching it. Thus, it is as simple as creating a back-up in a remote, devoted location. All other attributes of the files and the filing system will remain the same.
Once the transfer is complete, the maintenance is another feat to conquer. The process of maintenance will largely include synchronizing the permissions between live and archive file systems. In the maintenance process, those archived files which were used recently are also picked up and put back into the live system.
After the maintenance phase, the final stage includes setting up a graveyard file system. Those files which have met the end of life and are not supposed to be stored anymore are then sent to graveyard file system. Once the file reaches here, there is no retrieval setting is to be made. Use this link to understand the archive filing system in detail.
To get the best advantages of archiving files, several new features are introduced in the software. For example:
- Scalability
The storage system of archives can be scaled up or down as per the size of data to be stored. Some of the latest versions can enable saving of Pentabytes of data size; it is somewhat similar to NTFS,
- Links and stub types
Even links and stubs of different types are being introduced to make the retrieval fast, easier and fully compatible with the various gadget types.
- Multiple tier storage system
In addition to secondary storage structure, there is third tier of storage introduced which is called graveyard. This is lowering down the onus of maintaining data in the overall resource ecosystem.
- Compatibility with all operating systems
Since the makers are coming with multiple types of operating systems quite frequently, archiving software makers are following the suit and expanding the range of compatible operating systems.
- Compatibility with various character sets
The computers these days are designed to support various types of languages. Archiving software supports other character system apart from English.
To conclude,
Archiving software works well and proves its utility when it gels perfectly with the existing file system. The present day archivers are designed to bring added seamlessness to the process and eliminate the need of proprietary storage systems. Eventually, archiving is reduced to just clicking of a few buttons.
