MDES identifies storage requirements
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DocumentWereld
MDES identifies storage requirements
Zeeland Province has been wrestling with a proliferation of emails that is clogging up the mail server. MDES HotColdFrozenData carried out an analysis of the province’s storage requirements. “Our e-mail mountain has been growing annually at a rate of 416 percent but now we know exactly what information has to be stored and what not.”
At present, there are some 1,250,000 e-mails in the Province’s operational system of which 440,000 have attachments including sizeable attachments containing provincial decisions or construction drawings. Some of these e-mails have to be stored while others can be deleted. Annually, some seven million e-mails are sent and received, and about 15 percent of emails sent internally have to be saved as required under the Archive Law, such as decisions made by the provincial council. With the results of the analysis, Zeeland Province can develop functional requirements for the new digital archive system.
From 40 to 100 gigabytes in two years
“At present, the proliferation of e-mails claims 40 gigabits of our storage capacity,” says André Roelse, Head ICT for Zeeland Province. “Our e-mail mountain is growing at a rate of 416 percent per year. This has clogged up the Exchange Server which is almost at bursting point. An analysis by MDES indicates that the storage requirements will increase to 100 gigabits within two years if a smart storage method is not found. The installation of an extra mail server is not an option because this would only increase the management complexity. We want a smart solution to reduce the burden on our e-mail server in which those e-mails that have to be kept are stored in another environment; in a place where emails are no longer a burden to the operational system but can be retrieved as required.”
Hot, Cold and Frozen Data
It was important for the Province of Zeeland to gain insight into the type of documents in the organization. According to André Roelse, “From the analysis, we now know precisely which information has to be stored and in what way. MDES has a good description for different types of data such as Hot, Cold and Frozen data. Hot data can be modified, such as a memorandum that is still being processed. Cold data has a definitive status. While not being changed or adjusted, documents are still being consulted, such as an implementation plan resulting from a proposal or decision. Frozen data are on the network but are not processed or used. You can question whether such data should remain on the network or whether they should be transferred to another and less cost-intensive medium on line for retrieval as required.”
Depth analysis
MDES installed temporarily specific software on the network of the Zeeland Province. “We used the software to scan all documents over a specific period,” says Frank Bertram, CEO MDES HotColdFrozenData. “Based on the results and a depth analysis, we were able to analyze which data are hot, cold, or frozen. The province has received answers to a number of questions. What type of e-mails? Memos or official documents? How old are these e-mails? And where can you find the emails?”
Analysis results
With insight into different types of information, Zeeland Province can achieve a number of advantages in the purchase of a new digital archive system. Frank Bertram says, “Management is simpler, savings can be made on back-up media, back-up and restore is faster, there is more control over files, and the province can meet the regulatory requirements on storage management.”
