Reciprocal Arrangements for Electronic Records Care

Establishing Offsite Storage for Electronic Records

For example, an organisation may set aside a facility that is wired for information technology and telecommunications systems but that does not have environmental controls or hardware. Such a facility is sometimes called a ‘cold storage site’. In the event of an emergency, the organisation would need to obtain and set up computers and telephones to access its data. It is possible that two or more institutions might share in the establishment of such an offsite storage location, reducing the costs. One major disadvantage to sharing is that all organisations may all require the same site at the same time, thus complicating the use of the facility.

The organisation may also create what is called a ‘warm storage site.’ This type of alternative site is wired for the information technology and telecommunications systems and contains the appropriate environmental controls. Some or all of the computer hardware peripherals may be on site as well. This option is more expensive than cold site facilities, but again it may be shared by two or more organisations to reduce costs. While this type of facility is good for long-term use, the sharing organisations may require the facility as the same time, thus reducing its availability.

A ‘hot storage site’ is a complete data centre available on a continuous standby basis. An organisation can move into this type of facility with its own information technology systems and continue operations until its own data centre is rebuilt or restored. The advantages of hot sites are that they are usually very secure and are immediately ready for use. This type of electronic storage site is very expensive. Costs can increase if the organisation chooses to locate this type of storage site outside of the city limits, a wise precaution against the damage of earthquakes, floods or other major disasters.

This most expensive type of electronic storage facility is called a ‘redundant’ site. This type of site is an exact duplicate of the organisation’s information technology or data centre. The complete duplication of equipment and services allows for guaranteed compatibility, availability, security and ease of use. However, this is probably the most expensive option as the organisation has to keep both sites totally compatible and up-to-date.

Finally, it is also possible to protect records by a technique called ‘electronic vaulting.’ Electronic vaulting involves transferring critical information electronically, using telecommunication systems, to a remote storage facility. This electronic transfer of data allows for the simultaneous update of records at remote storage facilities when normal updates are done. The data in storage remains as current as the data in the office. This is an extremely expensive method of data protection, requiring a high level of technical expertise. The advantages to this method are that operations can be restored on-line within one to two hours and lost data is limited to minutes or seconds. The method also allows for direct access to information that has been transferred and eliminates the need to physically transfer back-up tapes or to load data from one back up tape to another.

The disadvantages of electronic vaulting are the high cost of having a duplicate information technology system that is constantly being updated. Security may also be a factor as equipment and telephone lines shared with other users and may be subject to security breaches.

Storing electronic records off site is a complex matter involving access to appropriate technologies and related resources.

Activity 33

Does your institution have procedures in place for storing electronic records off site? If so, describe the procedures followed and suggest three steps you might take to improve them.

If not, indicate the first three actions you would take to establish a programme to store electronic records off site.