What Is Data Archiving?

Data archiving is a critical solution for organisations grappling with the ever-growing volume of digital information. With companies now storing hundreds to thousands of terabytes of data on average, effective archiving practices are essential for optimising storage and ensuring compliance with regulatory standards.

Secure data archiving involves collecting and moving older data to a secure location for later retrieval to conduct data analysis. This practice is essential for organisations to effectively manage their data lifecycle, optimise storage resources, and comply with regulatory requirements.

Archives are distinct from backups. While data backups create copies of current, operational data for short-term recovery purposes, archives focus on preserving historical data for extended periods. Data archiving involves moving information from primary storage systems to dedicated archive storage, freeing up valuable resources and improving overall system performance.

Many compliance and regulatory standards require data archives, including GDPR, HIPAA, and SOX. But beyond regulatory compliance, data archiving can also be useful for disaster recovery, business intelligence, data governance, and legal investigations.

By implementing comprehensive data archiving procedures, organisations can enhance compliance, efficiency, and preparedness in an increasingly data-centric environment.

Ultimately, any organisation that values its data as a strategic asset should implement a robust data archiving solution to ensure long-term data integrity, accessibility, and compliance.

Small organisations with limited data may initially rely on backups alone. However, as businesses grow and data accumulates, robust archiving solutions become increasingly critical. Without proper archiving, unused legacy data can consume vast storage resources, leading to inefficiencies and increased costs.

Archiving data frees up storage space for newer data. By archiving files, email messages, and database records, organisations create space without violating regulatory standards or losing valuable information for future review.

Outside of data archiving to meet regulatory requirements, administrators identify obsolete files and data that can be moved. While the storage space for archived data can be cheaper and slower, it must be secure and available when required for review. By moving data to a lower-cost storage area, the organisation saves money while allocating faster storage for more critical data. This process also increases productivity by reducing the time to open files and access data.

Because archived data is no longer actively used, most administrators store it in read-only mode so it cannot be altered. A secure data archive in read-only mode retains its integrity should it be needed in an investigation after a data breach or impropriety. It also prevents attackers from altering data to conceal their tracks after a compromise.

Securing data archives is as critical as maintaining its integrity. Attackers know that archives contain a wealth of information, such as intellectual property, internal messages, and financial data. These data archives are a rich target for attackers with access to high-privilege network accounts.

The choice of how to store archives typically hinges on convenience, reliability, and availability. Historically, organisations have used magnetic tape because it stores significantly more data than other media, but tape devices tend to be slower. However, it continues as a standard for organisations that need a low-cost way to store large amounts of data in a small space.

Attached network drives are also a common storage media but are costly. Network storage requires the real estate to host it and expensive hardware to secure and maintain it. But unlike most tape systems, network drives offer secure data archives that are readily available when the organisation or investigators need to access them.

A third common option is cloud storage. Cloud storage offers high availability and low costs, but its speed depends on the organisation’s bandwidth and network performance. Many organisations have moved to cloud storage for convenience and savings, but it’s still the organisation’s responsibility to keep the data secure.

Data archiving best practices recommend using software to automate the process. A data archiving software’s features and capabilities vary by vendor, but most include standard features across every platform. An administrator configures the time, location, and data to be archived—the software does the rest. An archiving policy is created to determine the rules governing data movement. An administrator uses archive policies to ensure that data moved to the storage location follows the appropriate regulatory standards and requirements.

In conjunction with other archiving rules, a retention policy is also necessary. A retention policy determines how long an archive is available before the data can be overwritten or destroyed. Typically, a retention policy for backups is about 30 days, but archived data might be retained longer before it’s reconciled. Some organisations keep archived data for years before media is rotated or archives are deleted. For the most sensitive data, archives may never be overwritten or destroyed. Archiving and compliance standards could have a retention policy requirement, so organisations must ensure this configuration does not violate regulatory standards.

Data archiving solutions can be categorised based on the type of data they manage and their storage methods. Here are the primary types of data archiving:

Email Archiving

This form of data archiving systematically stores and indexes email communications and attachments—critical for complying with regulations like GDPR and supporting e-discovery processes in legal situations.

Database Archiving

Database archiving focuses on moving inactive database records to separate storage while maintaining data integrity and relationships, thereby optimising database performance and reducing the load on production systems.

File Archiving

File archiving involves the long-term storage of documents, images, videos, and other file types. It helps organisations manage unstructured data, reduce primary storage costs, and ensure easy retrieval of historical files when needed.

Social Media Archiving

With the increasing importance of social media in business communications, social media archiving captures and stores posts, messages, and interactions from various social platforms. This is particularly important for industries subject to strict communication regulations.

Web Content Archiving

Web content archiving preserves website content, including text, images, and structure, crucial for maintaining records of online publications, ensuring compliance, and tracking changes over time.

Voice and Video Archiving

This type of archiving focuses on storing audio and video communications, including phone calls, video conferences, and voicemails. It’s imperative for industries like finance and healthcare for regulatory compliance and quality assurance.

Application Data Archiving

Application data archiving involves storing data from specific business applications, such as CRM or ERP systems. This archiving solution maintains historical records of business transactions and interactions while optimising application performance.

Big Data Archiving

As organisations deal with increasingly large datasets, big data archiving solutions are designed to store and manage massive volumes of structured and unstructured data, often utilising cloud or hybrid storage solutions.

Each type of data archiving addresses specific organisational needs and data types, contributing to a comprehensive data classification and management strategy. Organisations often implement multiple types of archiving solutions to effectively cover their diverse data landscape.

Implementing effective data archiving strategies is crucial for organisations to maintain compliance, optimise storage, and ensure data accessibility. Here are some best practices, with an emphasis on data retention policies:

• Develop a comprehensive data retention policy: A well-defined data retention policy is the cornerstone of effective archiving. This policy should:
  • Clearly specify retention periods for different types of data
  • Align with legal and regulatory requirements
  • Define the process for disposing of data that has exceeded its retention period
  • Be regularly reviewed and updated to reflect changing business needs and regulations
• Classify data: Implement a robust data classification system to categorise information based on its sensitivity, importance, and regulatory requirements. This classification should inform retention periods and archiving strategies.
• Automate archiving processes: Utilise archiving software to automate data identification, collection, and storage based on predefined rules. Automation reduces human error and ensures consistent application of retention policies.
• Ensure data accessibility: While archived data is not actively used, it should remain easily accessible when needed. Implement efficient search and retrieval mechanisms to quickly locate specific information within archives.
• Maintain data integrity: Use read-only formats and implement verification methods like checksums to ensure that archived data remains unaltered throughout its retention period.
• Implement secure access controls: Restrict access to archived data based on user roles and permissions. Maintain detailed logs of all access attempts and activities related to archived data.
• Regular audits and compliance checks: Conduct periodic audits of your archiving system and processes to ensure compliance with internal policies and external regulations. Address any discrepancies promptly.
• Plan for technology obsolescence: As technology evolves, ensure that archived data remains accessible. Develop a strategy for migrating data to new formats or storage media as needed.
• Document chain of custody: Maintain clear records of data handling throughout the archiving process, from initial collection to final disposition—essential for data that may be used in legal proceedings.
• Train employees: Ensure that all relevant staff members understand the importance of data archiving and are trained on proper procedures for handling and accessing archived information.
• Implement a defensible deletion process: Establish a systematic, documented process for securely disposing of data at the end of its retention period. This process should be defensible in legal contexts.
• Consider privacy regulations: Ensure that your archiving practices comply with data privacy regulations like GDPR or CCPA, including the right to be forgotten and data minimisation principles.

By following these best practices and implementing a robust data retention policy, organisations can effectively manage their data lifecycle, reduce risks associated with improper data handling, and maintain compliance with relevant regulations.

When selecting a data archiving solution, organisations should consider several key features and capabilities to manage data effectively, maintain compliance, and ensure accessibility. A comprehensive data archiving solution should capture a wide range of data types, including emails, instant messages, social media content, and other electronic communication that archives data at the point of creation or receipt to ensure completeness.

Advanced search and e-discovery capabilities are critical, allowing users to quickly locate specific information within the archive. The solution should offer flexible retention policies to meet various regulatory requirements, along with features for legal holds and the ability to demonstrate compliance through audit trails. Data security and integrity are paramount, so organisations should look for robust security measures, including encryption for data in transit and at rest, access controls, and mechanisms to prevent unauthorised data tampering or deletion.

Organisations may also benefit from cloud-based or hybrid deployment options, which provide flexibility in data storage while potentially reducing on-premises infrastructure costs. Integration capabilities are crucial for seamless operation with existing IT infrastructure and business applications, enhancing productivity and streamlining workflows. A user-friendly interface is vital, enabling both IT administrators and end-users to easily manage, search, and retrieve archived data.

Additionally, advanced analytics and reporting features can help organisations gain insights from their archived data while assisting in compliance monitoring and system usage evaluation. Cost-effective storage management features like data deduplication and compression can optimise storage usage and reduce long-term retention costs. Scalability is also critical as data volumes continue to grow. The solution must accommodate increasing amounts of information without compromising performance or requiring significant infrastructure changes.

While archiving offers many benefits, it must be implemented strategically. A well-designed archiving strategy balances the need for accessibility with the benefits of long-term data preservation and storage optimisation.

People often confuse data archives with backups, and the two terms are often—but incorrectly—used interchangeably. While both are important, archives and backups are used for different purposes. Here are a few key differences.

Backups create duplicate copies of current, operational data for short-term recovery purposes, while archiving involves moving older, less frequently accessed data to a separate storage location to optimise primary storage resources.

Backups are essential for disaster recovery and business continuity, allowing quick restoration of recent data in case of system failures or data loss. Archives, however, are primarily used for long-term data retention, compliance, and historical record-keeping. Some organisations may use archived data and backups together—backing up an archive helps ensure its integrity.

If compliance requires archives, an organisation should ensure retention and security policies align with regulatory standards to avoid fines.

Ineffective cybersecurity defences could make all archived data accessible to cyber-attacks. A data breach on an archive could devastate business integrity and brand reputation. Organisations should implement comprehensive security strategies tailored to the specific requirements of both backups and archives, considering factors such as access controls, encryption, and regular security audits.

Proofpoint specialises in providing comprehensive, human-centric solutions to help organisations protect sensitive data and mitigate risks associated with data loss. By leveraging advanced technologies and a deep understanding of the evolving threat landscape, Proofpoint addresses complex data protection challenges through AI-augmented data classification and user behaviour analysis.

With a focus on cloud-based architectures, Proofpoint simplifies scaling and reduces operational costs. Its advanced content scanning capabilities identify sensitive information across communication channels, while behavioural insights help uncover user risks. This integrated approach enhances incident response and improves overall security posture.

Additionally, Proofpoint offers managed services to assist organisations in designing and implementing effective data loss prevention and insider risk programs, ensuring best practices are followed. By partnering with Proofpoint, organisations can transform their information protection strategies, maintaining the integrity and security of their sensitive data. For more information, contact Proofpoint.