Our digital preservation facilities comprise a secure and stable environment that houses processing networks, a digital archive and a separate laboratory for staff. The facilities are located in two access-controlled and network-isolated rooms, with a back-up power supply, environmental monitoring and a fire suppression system. The environmental stability and security features help to ensure the integrity and life of the hardware and software and – more importantly – the records. All digital preservation processing occurs within these two isolated rooms, one for the hardware and software, and the other for staff.
The quarantine, preservation and repository systems are constructed as three separate computer networks located within secure rooms within a secure building. There are no data connections between the systems or to systems outside the secure rooms. Such isolation prevents any virus or malware activity on the quarantine facility affecting the digital archive or the processing of data, and protects the data from tampering.
When selecting the hardware and systems for its digital preservation prototype, the National Archives avoided relying on any single vendor or technology. In so doing, the Archives enhanced its ability to deal with hardware obsolescence – technology is our enabler, but we don't want it to be our driver. Conceptually, the digital repository is one system, but it comprises two independent systems running simultaneously. The prototype digital archive uses:
By operating with a redundancy, we are future-proofing our system. In the event of an operational flaw in any one operating system, disk technology or vendor, an alternative is available, so the risk to data is lower.