WORM raid

As WORM RAID storage solutions are designated, which in standard hard drive systems, a Write Once - Read Many (write once, read multiple) functionality to map. This is needed to save electronic documents in an unchangeable state.

RAID stands for redundant array of independent disks and is used to organize several physical hard disks of a computer into a logical drive . A RAID system can, among other things, increase the reliability of a hard drive system. WORM raid systems make use of this property.

Compliance

As a rule, one would like to ensure that the data cannot be changed in order to strengthen the evidential value of electronic documents. It can also be that you are obliged to do so for legal reasons. For example, all companies listed in the USA are obliged to archive in this way by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) introduced in 2002 .

But also in Germany , the principles of data access and the verifiability of digital documents force GDPdU or the HGB companies to store business-relevant documents. According to the GdPDU, e-mails must be archived in an electronically evaluable form.

solutions

There are two different approaches to a WORM raid. Storage providers like NetApp add a software function to the management of their storage systems that prevents stored files from being overwritten. Content-Addressed Storage, on the other hand, relies on addressing based on the content, which makes it impossible to overwrite, as this would result in a new address. This can also be achieved through a function of the operating system as with Centera or Caringo, or by providing a special software interface as with iTernity.