Design Planning Records Center of The Future 2004-10
Design Planning Records Center of The Future 2004-10
Design Planning Records Center of The Future 2004-10
By Hugh Smith
Firelock Fireproof Modular Vaults
must be aware of the standards, trends and emerging technologies that impact the
protection of the information assets of the organization. This session will help you fill
in the blanks of your future planning criteria to not only store information assets but
protect them in a manner consistent with the controlling legislation.
The records center must satisfy a wide array of needs to deliver protection
of the information assets, including the system hardware, software and
operating systems. The difficulties arise from the need to protect all the
information assets for the duration of the retention schedule.
Computer systems utilized for managing the information assets included in the
records management system should be protected as part of the archival collection
along with operating manuals and spare parts in the event of equipment failure.
To be effective in protecting media in a records center environment, the records
center must be able to offer services similar to those being provided by an
outsourced service provider.
High-end data storage vendors are already offering these services providing
media storage, offering e-vaulting, and recently some of these companies
have added creation to tape capabilities.
Imaging companies are expanding into offering media storage for the same
data banks they created by mass imaging projects.
Autonomy is critical to protecting the media from a variety of threats. The records
center must also have the ability to remain current to meet the various roles that it
will provide over time to an organization. To function as the operational storage
center, the recovery site and near line or online data bank, much thought must go
into the long-term capabilities of this records center of the future. The records center
must not be viewed as a cost center, but as an ongoing benefit to the well-being and
profitability of the organization. The marriage of information protection and
accessibility, resulting in superior business continuity, will define the success of this
new records center.
ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS:
Digital Format Records are generated and managed electronically, in a form that
makes them more fragile than paper, and it is critical that we concern ourselves with
preserving the accessibility of the information because of the unstable life of the
media. The records manager cannot be concerned only with the loss of records due
to catastrophic causes, but must also address issues such as environmental decay.
While protecting media from catastrophic loss by storing within a vault must be
considered within the records center, the loss due to a catastrophic event is not as
great a risk as loss due to the effects of poor environmental control. For this reason
we place special emphasis on environmental control in this presentation.
Environmental Standards, such as ANSI IT9.11 for IMAGING MATERIALS PROCESSED SAFETY PHOTOGRAPHIC FILM STORAGE, ANSI/NAPM IT9.21 the
standard test method to establish the life expectancy of compact discs (CD-ROM)
and ANSI/NAPM IT9.23, the standard providing appropriate recommendations for
the storage of magnetic tape must be used to establish the requirements for storage
of film and electronic media.
Care must be taken to concern ourselves with the operational use area (data center
or server room) of the media, because cycling media in and out of a master storage
or archival environment to serve as back-up requires that we consider the
temperature of the computer room or use environment. Here the computer
equipment dictates the proper temperature and humidity requirements for effective
operation of the computer equipment and tape drives. To avoid cycling the
temperature through the 5 F. cycle level, the storage environment for back-up
media should be the same as the computer room or use environment. This is
typically 65- 68 F. in standard design applications. Therefore, to extend the life of
the media, the designer should plan the vault environment to maintain a constant
state of 30% relative humidity. By reducing the humidity and eliminating cycling
temperatures, the life of the media is extended and the stability of the media is
improved by avoiding the stresses which are known to shorten the life of the stored
master media units.
Furthermore, the minimization of dust in the environment through the use of special
filtering devices such as HEPA filters increases the life span of the media. It is
recommended that dust and vapor resistant light fixtures be utilized within the media
vault chambers.
Magnetic shielding should be considered within the archival or media vault. Storage
areas should be analyzed for the presence of magnetic fields as continued exposure
to fields of 10 milligauss can alter the information contained on magnetically
recorded media.
Additionally, off-gassing from laser printers can negatively impact media and care
should be exercised to avoid storing media adjacent to the processing equipment.
Since damage to media begins at 120F., it is also critical to control the rotation
methodology of media from storage to the use environment and back again.
Refrigerated vehicles should be outfitted with air conditioning equipment which
continue to operate even when the delivery vehicle is parked to ensure damage
does not occur during transit. Special transit containers are required to protect the
media from impact shocks, magnetic fields and other risks encountered in the
delivery path and from outside elements.
Even in a paper storage environment it is important to consider environmental
controls, as it is recommended that air be completely circulated at least three times
each hour to avoid mold and mildew developing on the paper records.
Efficiency of storage
The user must be able to find desired records
- absolute integrity in the tracking software
- reduced search costs
Store at efficient cost level
-reduce retention periods to control cost
Minimize threat of expired records being discovered after scheduled
destruction date
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Mechanical Rooms
Telephone Equipment Rooms
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certain life safety risks due to lowered oxygen content and volume
of gas that must be forced into the environment
- Life safety must be considered for vault staff Toxicity levels
- Residue on media and acid levels on the media are a concern
- Not all gas systems are equal in performance
Water and gas systems and the alarm panels require maintenance and
inspections and this must be rigidly monitored
Physical Facility Security Design
Can you control access to the areas adjacent to the building
What are the wall construction and roof construction
Is visibility on sides of the facility designed to prevent intrusions
Avoid concrete bollards that become propellants in an explosion
Unmarked building and delivery vehicles for proprietary facilities
Vans should be able to unload in enclosed bays
Loading doors and docks should not face traffic side of building
150 200 setbacks from roadways to building
Access road for fire trucks on all sides of building
Access and Traffic Control
Access control systems and the facility design should be used to progressively
handle traffic within the Centre. Some evaluation such as a Threat Risk Assessment
should guide the determination of the security methods employed. The Zones may
follow this pattern:
Site Control
Public Zone
Reception Zone
Operations Zone
Security Zone
High Security zone
-Records Storage Areas
-Electronic Records Storage Platform
Mechanical Systems (Pump Rooms, Back-up generators, Alarm Panels)
Phased Growth for Physical Facility
Lack of expansion space often degrades existing security
Prepared phased growth drawings at project inception
New requirements for office space in the records center
Provide additional parking area space
Provide additional support areas (Lounge, rest rooms, etc.)
Avoid loss of integrity in secure zones
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Mock drills with the fire department shall educate the fire fighters as to
the proper procedures for fighting fires in the records center in and near the
vault area
A man-trap foyer shall be part of the media vault design plan.
- Allows for additional tiers of security near the vault
~ High Security Control zone (access control)
- Facilitates the environmental stability of the vault
- Provides a secure staging area for ingress and egress of assets
- Provides an additional fire wall barrier around the vault entry
- Prevents clutter in the vault and improves efficiency
- Provides risk reduction for the media in transit
- Minimizes accidental discharge of suppression system
The interior lighting for the vault shall include emergency lighting for
egress from the vault in the event of a power failure or fire event
A phone should be located on the interior of the vault
Klaxons and strobe lights should alert personnel in the vault of an alarm
Environmental control must be accomplished with fire rated
dampers or through the use of a split system environmental package
- Motorized louver dampers must also be utilized to seal of HVAC
System from the vault chamber to prevent smoke from entering
the vault and to provide containment for the fire suppression gas
Structural steel assemblies from the building structure shall not penetrate
the vault interior chamber
Walls of vault shall serve as a vapor barrier against moisture, steam,
smoke and gases which may endanger the vault contents
Vault Storage - Care and Handling Issues
Media should be stored in a slotted media cabinet for long-term storage
- Cartridges to stand on end for tape tension
- Tension system on slots to avoid cartridges falling from units
Rolling carts should be used to avoid dropped cartridges
Enclosed cabinets for protection from sprinklers discharge and fire hose
Enclosed cabinets for protection from dust particles
Enclosed cabinets for protection from UV light
Transfer Cases to be designed to avoid shocks to media in transit
- Media should be secure in case with padded slots or spaces
~ Cases should be equipped to avoid tampering
~ Cases should be equipped to avoid unauthorized access
~ Magnetic shielding on case interior metal case
Vault Floor to be anti-static finish or painted seal-coat finish
Microfilm should be tested for vinegar syndrome before storing in vault
chamber with other media
Media should be stored in sealed containers (cartridges or cans)
Storage methodology
Media should handled by staff knowledgeable about the fragile nature of the
media
Staging areas are necessary for bar coding media prior to slotting in
storage containers inside of vault
- Staging areas should be secure and access controlled
- Media should move into staging area immediately upon delivery to
records center
Sufficient work space should be available to allow for wanding or coding
the new media into the tracking software system.
Staging areas should be clean and environmentally controlled.
Staging space should clearly delineate the media moving into the vault
as well as the media out of the vault during back ups or removal of tape
from service.
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Imaging Area
Due to the equipment utilized, the air circulation from this area should not
be on the same zone as the vault or the staging areas
Special electrical circuits will be required due to the electrical draw for
imaging equipment
- Special breakers are required for this equipment
Staging areas for the paper document which are being scanned must be
provided
- Staging areas for document in and documents out should be
clearly marked to avoid destructing records prior to imaging
Output from the imaging system whether microfilm or computer media
must be immediately be entered into the software tracking system with
bar codes and identifiers.
Microfilming Zones
Due to the equipment utilized, the air circulation from this area should not
be on the same zone as the vault or the staging areas
Special electrical circuits will be required due to the electrical draw for
imaging equipment
- Special breakers are required for this equipment
Staging areas for the paper document which are being scanned must be
provided
- Staging areas for document in and documents out should be
clearly marked to avoid destructing records prior to imaging
Output from the microfilming department must be immediately be entered
into the software tracking system with bar codes and identifiers.
An inspection program must be part of this process to verify quality.
Destruction Areas
Shredding areas require separation from the records storage area
Dust and debris pose a threat to records center
Special detectors should be considered for this area
This area should be treated as a high security area
Special care should be taken to provide proper staging areas
Avoid wrongful destruction of records
Insure that scheduled destruction files are destroyed
Special coding should be used for identified records
Third party destruction should have a special bay for this function
Certification statements on all destructed records
Authors note:
This is a special area of concern as case history after case history has shown that records shown as
destructed have continued to exist in the offsite records storage facility. A constant complaint of
corporations changing records storage vendors, is that records certified as destructed remain in
storage and the company has been paying the storage costs. This impacts the litigants position in a
civil action when records reported as destructed are found on discovery.
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SCP,
DVR
CK
FDR
CK
KP
The routers, servers, DR servers, RAID and SAN along with the switch equipment
units must all be protected within a secure environment equipped with specialized
environmental control equipment. All of this computer equipment and the HVAC
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British Standard
BS 5454:2000 Recommendations for the Storage and Exhibition of
Archival Documents
5.5.1 Fire Protection - Strong-rooms, including their doors, walls and ceilings,
should offer 4-hour fire resistance.
5.5.2 Smoke Detectors, preferably capable of detecting fire in its incipient phase,
with automatic fire alarms connected to the fire station or security agency should be
fitted to strong-rooms, plant rooms, and adjacent areas and preferably throughout
the repository.
5.9 Environment and storage: Magnetic Tape
5.9.1 Magnetic tape should be stored in an environment as close as possible to
that in which it will be consulted.
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Canadian Standard
FC 311 (M), Standard for Records Storage
This Standard describes the Fire Protection Requirements for the storage and
handling of records of the Government of Canada.
Fire Rated Vault means a vault of an approved design and construction having a
fire resistance rating.
Fire Resistance Rating means the time that a material or assembly of materials
will resist the effects of fire as determined by ULC Standards S101 Standard
Methods of Fire Endurance Tests of Building Construction and Materials. U.S.
Equivalent ASTM E-119.
Fire Rated Vaults
1) A fire rated vault shall be of an approved design and of noncombustible
construction having a fire resistance rating of not less than two hours.
NOTE: A vault designed in accordance with NFPA 232. Standard for the
Protection of Records shall be considered to meet the design requirements
of this Clause.
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