S 1.60 Appropriate storage of archiving media

Initiation responsibility: Head of IT

Implementation responsibility: Administrator, Head of IT

For long-term use of archiving media, access protection and climatic storage conditions must particularly be taken into account and the compliance with these must be monitored.

If archiving media are stored in online access, i.e. in the archive system and/or in storage drives, no spatial separation between archive system and archiving medium can be implemented. Regarding the appropriate storage of archiving media, the recommendations mentioned in S 1.59 Suitable siting of archive systems must be implemented.

If archiving media are stored "offline" outside of the archive system, the safeguards described in module S 2.5 Data media archive must be applied particularly taking into consideration the requirements for air conditioning.

Air conditioning

The climate-related requirements regarding the durability of archiving media depend on the archiving media used. Regarding this, manufacturers occasionally provide non-binding instructions on the storage conditions (e.g. regarding temperature and humidity) and on the durability of the media.

However, the specific storage conditions must be requested in a binding manner from the manufacturers of the archiving media used for the long-term use of electronic archive systems. Since the durability of the archiving media depends on this, the following items should be clarified before selecting the archiving media to be used(see also S 4.169 Use of appropriate archiving media):

• The climate-related and physical storage conditions for the archiving media being considered should be described in a sufficiently detailed manner by the manufacturer (including the effects on the maximum service life). This information should be binding, including a declaration of warranty of the manufacturer for compliance with the storage conditions, if possible.

• The technical implementation of appropriate storage may be very complex. Depending on the present technical and infrastructural specifications, certain archiving media may also be completely inappropriate. Therefore, the possibility and the expenses for the technical implementation of appropriate storage must be checked beforehand.

The storage conditions should be documented in the operating manual of the archive system. Additionally, it must be ensured that the storage conditions are met and monitored continuously (see also S 1.27 Air conditioning of the technology / in technology rooms).

Physical safeguards

Beyond the climate conditions, the archiving media used must be protected against unauthorised access and mechanical damage

or modification. For this, the safeguards mentioned in module S 2.5 Data media archive are referred to in particular.

Along with controlling the access to the data media room, fire control, and protection against water ingress, further safeguards must be implemented depending on the type of archiving media used, e.g. to provide protection against the effects of magnetic fields on magnetic tapes.

For this, binding recommendations regarding mechanical storage conditions must be obtained from the manufacturers and adhered to.

The non-observance of the storage conditions must trigger an alarm and a reaction. For this, escalation procedures and paths must be defined in an organisation-specific manner.

Review questions:

• Are the climate-related storage conditions of the archiving media observed and monitored for compliance?
• Are the archiving media protected against unauthorised access, mechanical damage, or modification?
• Have escalation procedures for the non-observance of the storage conditions been defined for the archiving media?