Modern Data Archiving: Clay Tablets to Digital Preservation

The concept of archiving information is not new. On the contrary, derived from the Greek word ‘archeia’, meaning public records, archives have been around for hundreds of centuries, with the first discovered archives having been chiseled and preserved on tablets of clay¹. Thousands of years later, modern data archiving continues with tens of thousands of large and small organizations, universities, research centers and government agencies around the world digitally ‘chiseling’ and preserving their vast amounts of data for numerous reasons, including future usage and monetization.

With the massive explosion of data creation, organizations must find new tools to help them store and manage their ever-growing repositories in a way that is both cost-effective and scalable. On-premises and cloud-based solutions offer flexible and accessible approaches to data storage, allowing companies to easily scale up or down as their storage needs change. But with so much data to manage, organizations are looking for technologies that streamline the archiving process by automating the identification, migration, protection and access of digital assets for long-term preservation.

Technology Advancements in Data Archiving
Delivering a modern approach to data management, Spectra’s StorCycle Enterprise Software, helps organizations automate and manage many of the processes involved in data preservation. In a nutshell, Spectra StorCycle scans and identifies data that can be migrated, such as inactive data or completed projects, and moves the data to a storage target appropriate for digital preservation. This tier can be made up of cloud, disk or tape or any combination of these. StorCycle ensures the data is stored and preserved securely, and is protected from ransomware, accidental deletion, or other causes of data loss. The software can even migrate data to new technologies without disrupting current applications or systems, thereby eliminating vendor lock-in by maintaining data in its original format.

In addition, Spectra Digital Archive, powered by StorCycle software, provides digital preservation for data at scale as a complete hardware and software solution, enabling organizations across multiple industries to take advantage of a cost-efficient and easy-to-implement archiving. The solution supports a variety of storage options, including flash, disk, tape and cloud. Spectra Digital Archive is designed for cost-effective bulk archive, project archive and automated long-term archive.

From the days of clay tablets to modern digital preservation, the world has come a long way in the archiving of critical information. Overall, powerful data management that facilitates the movement of data to the appropriate storage tier not only provides a secure and cost-effective method for data archiving but also enables organizations to better utilize their data and control storage costs. With the ever-increasing amount of data being generated, it’s important for organizations to invest in modern data management solutions that can keep up with their data storage and archiving needs. Spectra’s data management solutions are a gamechanger and make it easier than ever for organizations to centralize the management and migration of data for multiple use cases, including for active and long-term archive.

To learn more, watch the StorCycle video and the Spectra Digital Archive video.

¹   Guinnessworldrecords.com Oldest Written Archive