DataTerminology.comNEW
Also known as: Data Archive
Long-term preservation of infrequently accessed data in cost-optimized storage with defined retention and retrieval policies.
DESCRIPTION
Data archiving moves inactive or historical data to lower-cost, durable storage while preserving integrity and retrievability. It supports compliance, records management, and analytics on historical trends. Archives often use cold tiers, compression, and WORM policies for legal hold. Unlike backups, archives are primary systems of record for historical data and managed by retention schedules. Retrieval latency and indexing are key design considerations.
ALTERNATIVE DEFINITIONS
AWS
Amazon S3 Glacier is a secure, durable, and low-cost storage service for data archiving and long-term backup.
Vendor perspective emphasizing cold storage characteristics.
Microsoft Learn
The archive tier is optimized for storing data that can tolerate several hours of retrieval latency and offers the lowest storage cost.
Highlights latency trade-off and cost optimization.
RELATED TERMS
Data Retention Cold Storage Records Management Tiered Storage WORM Storage eDiscovery Compression Lifecycle Policies S3 Glacier Tape Storage
COMPETING TERMS
RELATIONS
- Broader: Archiving
KNOWLEDGE AREAS
Data Storage & Operations Document & Content Management Data Management Cloud
TARGET AUDIENCE
Data Architect Chief Information Officer Information Analyst Data Steward Cloud Architect
EXTERNAL SOURCES
- Wikipedia - Data archiving
- AWS - Glacier archiving overview
- Microsoft - Archive storage tiering
- U.S. National Archives (NARA) - Records management guidance
TOP QUESTIONS
How is Data Archiving different from backup?
Backups create recovery points for disasters; archives store historical records for long-term retention and retrieval. Archives often enforce retention and legal hold.
Category: Misunderstanding
When should organizations use Data Archiving?
When datasets are infrequently accessed but must be retained for compliance, analytics, or cost optimization. Lifecycle policies trigger archival after defined periods.
Category: Requirements
What are typical storage choices for Data Archiving?
Cold cloud tiers, object storage with lifecycle policies, tape libraries, and WORM-enabled systems for regulatory compliance.
Category: Example
How do retrieval latencies affect Data Archiving?
Cold tiers reduce cost but add hours of retrieval delay. Plan SLAs and prefetch strategies for predictable access patterns.
Category: Risk
What are common mistakes in Data Archiving?
Archiving data without indexes or metadata, failing to track retention/hold status, and mixing archives with backups cause retrieval and compliance problems.
Category: Mistakes
How is integrity ensured in Data Archiving?
Use immutable storage, checksums, regular integrity checks, and migration plans to avoid media degradation or format obsolescence.
Category: BestPractice
How do legal holds impact Data Archiving?
Holds suspend deletion despite retention expiry. Systems must support defensible hold management and auditable access trails.
Category: Regulation
How to budget for Data Archiving?
Consider storage cost, retrieval fees, API costs, and operational overhead. Optimize compression and tier transitions.
Category: Requirements
Can archived data still be used for analytics?
Yes, with appropriate indexing or on-demand restore to warm tiers. Some platforms support in-place querying of archived objects.
Category: Example