An Overview of Database Archiving Toronto DAMA Chapter Meeting 16 September, 2009 Jack E. Olson [email protected] SvalTech “Database

An Overview ofDatabase Archiving

Toronto DAMA Chapter Meeting16 September, 2009

Jack E. Olson

[email protected]

www.svaltech.com

SvalTech

“Database Archiving: How to Keep Lots of Data for a Long Time”Jack E. Olson, Morgan Kaufmann, 2008

Copyright SvalTech, Inc., 2009

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Topics


SvalTech

• Database Archiving Definitions

• Database Archiving Application Profiles

• Elements of a Successful Implementation

• Solution Comparisons

• Business Case Basics

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Database Archiving Definitions

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Definition

Document Archiving word pdf excel XML

File Archiving structured files source code reports

Email Archiving outlook lotus notes

Database Archiving DB2 IMS ORACLE SAP PEOPLESOFT

Physical Documents application forms mortgage papers prescriptions

Multi-media files pictures sound telemetry

The process of removing selected data items from operational databases that are not expected to be referencedagain and storing them in an archive database where they can be retrieved if needed.

SvalTech


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Data Sources

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Data created and maintained by either custom applications orpackaged applications that store data in structured database management systems or structured records in file systems.

transaction datareference data

DB2 SAP IMS Oracle Financials ADABAS Siebel IDMS PeopleSoft ORACLE SQL SERVER VSAM


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Data Domain – Business Records

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The data captured and maintained for a single businessevent or to describe a single real world object.

Databases are collections of Business Records.

Database Archiving is Records Retention.

customer employee stock trade purchase order deposit loan payment


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Drivers

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overloadedoperationaldatabases

Longer Data Retention requirements

Expanded Business

Mergers and Acquisitions


Operational problems

Data Governancee-Records Retentione-Discovery Readiness concerns

Application Changes

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Data Retention

SvalTech

The requirement to keep data for a business object for a specified period of time. The object cannot be destroyed untilafter the time for all such requirements applicable to it has past.

Business Requirements

Regulatory Requirements

The Data Retention requirement is the longest of all requirement lines.


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Data Retention

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• Retention requirements vary by business object type

• Retention requirements from regulations are exceeding business requirements

• Retention requirements will vary by country

• Retention requirements imply the obligation to maintain the authenticity of the data throughout the retention period

• Retention requirements imply the requirement to faithfully render the data on demand in a common business form understandable to the requestor

• The most important business objects tend to have the longest retention periods

• The data with the longest retention periods tends to be accumulate the largest number of instances

• Retention requirements often exceed 10 years. Requirements exist for 25, 50, 70 and more years for some applications


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Data Time Lines

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createevent discard

eventoperational reference inactive phase phase phase

operational phase can be updated, can be deleted, may participate in processes that create or update other data

reference phase used for business reporting, extracted into businessintelligence or analytic databases, anticipated queries

inactive phase no expectation of being used again, no known business value, being retained solely for the purpose of satisfying retention requirements. Must be available on request in the rare event a need arises.

for a single instance of a business record


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Data Time Lines

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for a single instance of a business record

Create POUpdate POCreate InvoiceBackorderCreate Financial RecordUpdate on ShipUpdate on Ack

Weekly Sales ReportQuarterly Sales report

Extract for data warehouseExtract for bus analysisCommon customer queriesCommon bus queries

Ad hoc requestsLaw suit e-Discovery requestsInvestigation data gathering

Retention requirement

operational reference inactive


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Data Time Lines

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• Some objects exit the operational phase almost immediately (financial records)

• Some objects never exit the operational phase (customer name and address)

• Most transaction data has an operational phase of less than 10% of the retention requirement and a reference phase of less than 20% of the retention requirement

• Inactive data generally does not require access to application programs: only access to ad hoc search and extract tools


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Application Segments

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An application segment is a set of business objects generated from a single versionof an application where all business records in the segment have data consistent witha single metadata definition.

A metadata break is a point in the life of the operational database where a change in metadatais implemented that changes the structure of the data or the manner in which data is encoded.

• An application will have many segments over time

• Minor changes in metadata can sometimes be implemented without forcing a segment change

• Major metadata changes will always generate a segment change where data created in the previous segment cannot be recast to the new metadata definition without some compromise in the data

• Application segments can be generated in parallel with one operational implementation using one version of the application at the same time that another operational instance is using a different version of the application


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Application SegmentsSvalTech

OS1

time

S1

Application: customer stock transactions

Source 1 = Trades – All Stock Trades

case 1

OS1

time

S1

S2


Source 1 = Stock Trades – North American DivisionSource 2 = Stock Trades – Western Europe Division

OS2

case 2

= major metadata break


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OS1

time

S1

S2


Source 1 = Stock Trades – North American Division – application XSource 2 = Stock Trades – Western Europe Division – application YSource 3 = acquisition of Trader Joe: merged with Source 1 on 7/15/2009Source 4 = acquisition of Trader Pete: merged with Source 1 on 8/15/2009

OS2

case 3

= major metadata break

S3OS3

S2OS4


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• A well designed database archive preserves application segments– Data is always kept in segment format – Metadata is preserved at the segment level– The archive administrative catalog shows

• Segments– Segment version number– Time period covered– System generated from

• Time order of consecutive segment strings• Parallel segment strings for the same application


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Database Archiving Application Profiles

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Overloaded Operational DatabaseSvalTech

• Transaction data• Lots of data

– Hundreds of millions of rows– High daily transaction rate

• 24/7 operational availability requirement• Long retention period (7 years or more) • Short useful active life (less than 2 years)• Low access requirements during the inactive period

– Very low access frequency– Response time not critical– Access requirements are simple, easily satisfied with ad hoc tools


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If You Don’t ArchiveSvalTech

• Inactive Data will impact operational performance– Harder to tune– Scans take longer

• Utility functions will take longer to execute– Backups– Database reorganizations

• Recovery Operations take longer– Outage recoveries– Disaster recoveries

• System Costs will Escalate– Need more expensive online storage– Need system upgrades– Pay more for application and DBMS software

• Older data will become less reliable


Continue to keepall data in operationalDatabase.

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Retired ApplicationSvalTech

• Merger of companies results in an operational application being duplicated

• Data Structures are not compatible– One keeps data elements not in other– One encodes data elements differently– One designed for different OS/DBMS than other

• Decision is made to use one system and abandon the other one

• Meets all requirements of an operational application


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• Must retain old application environment to access data

– Old System

– Old Application Program

– Old DBMS

– Must keep knowledgeable staff to access• Application experts

• System experts

• DBA function

• Or, Must merge data into active application


Pay the high cost of the oldapplication environmentand staff until last recordreaches end of retentionperiod.

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

• Higher cost and time of conversion

– Data conversion problems– Data loss– Resolution of data quality issues

• Resulting database is huge– Operational problems– Lengthy Utility runs– Lengthy Recovery periods– Escalating system costs

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Application Renovation ProjectSvalTech

• Application is undergoing major change– Replaced with packaged application– Legacy modernization– Legacy termination– Rewritten to be web-centric– Need to satisfy new requirements

• Old data structures are out of date– Legacy DBMS– Legacy file system

• Data meets all other requirements for archiving operational application


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• Must convert all data in one system to other system


• More expensive and complex design phase

– Must accommodate old data in new design

– May compromise new design

• Higher and longer conversion period

– Data conversion problems

– Data loss

– Resolution of data quality issues

• Resulting data is less reliable

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Elements of a Successful Implementation

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Archive StaffSvalTech

• Database Archive Specialist– Received education on database archive design and implementation– Knows tools available– Experienced– Full time job

• Database Archive Administrator– Received education on database archiving administration– Full time job

• Supporting Roles– Storage Administrators– Database Administrators– Data Stewards– Security Administrators– Compliance staff– IT management– Business Unit Management


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Architecture of Database Archiving

Archive Server

Operational System

archive catalog

archive storage

OP DB

Archive AdministratorArchive DesignerArchive Data ManagerArchive Access Manager

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Archive Extractor

Application program

Archive extractor


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Archive DesignerSvalTech

• Metadata– Capture current metadata– Validate it– Enhance it– Design archive storage format

• Data– Define business records to be archived– Define source of data– Define data structures within operational system– Define reference data needed to include with it– Define archive format of data

• Policies– Define extract policy (when a record becomes inactive)– Define operational disposal policy (when to remove from operational database)– Define storage policy (how to protect data in archive)– Define discard policy (when to remove from archive)


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Archive ExtractorsSvalTech

• Extractor process– Verify consistency with design metadata– Extract data as defined in designer– Mark or delete from operational database as defined in designer– Pass data to archive data manager– Keep audit records on everything done– Do not impact operational performance– Support interruptions with transaction level recovery– Support restart– Finish scans within acceptable time periods

• Scheduling– Establish periodic executions– Find non-disruptive periods– Be consistent


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Archive ExtractorsPhysical vs. Application Extractors

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Operational System

OP DB

Archive Extractor

Application program

Archive extractor

Physical ExtractorGets/deletes data directly from the database

tables, rows, columns

Application ExtractorGets/deletes data from an application API

virtual tables, rows, columns

application program

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Archive Data ManagerSvalTech

• Put data away– Receive data from extractors– Format into archive segment files– Determine metadata version affinity– Format and store metadata files if new– Build or update segment indexes both internal and external

• Execute Storage policies– Encryption/ signatures– Backup copies created and stored– Geographic dispersion of backups– Register archive files with archive catalog– Enter audit trail information

• Fetch metadata on request– Return to accessing programs

• Fetch data on request– Scan archive segments– Search through indexes

• Execute Archive Discard Process– Periodic scheduling– Delete qualifying business records– Update archive catalog


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Archive AccessSvalTech

• Query Capability– Determine applicability based on archive segment versions of metadata– SQL based in best, if possible– Employ external indexes to determine which archive segments to look into– Employ internal indexes to avoid reading all of an archive segment

• Support standard access tools– Report generation (such as Crystal Reports)– Generic query tools– JDBC interface

• Support metadata version browsing

• Support generation of load files based on query results

• Support generation of load files based on original data source based on query results


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Archive AdministrationSvalTech

• Manage Archive Catalog– Application archive designs– Audit trails– Results logs

• Manage Archive Storage Systems– Ensure periodic readability checks– Maintain access audit trails

• Manage Archive Access– Authorizations for users– Authorizations for specific events

• Unloads– Ensure audit records are created for all access

• Manage e-Discovery requests

• Ensure Extract and Discard processes are run when they are supposed to

• Manage Metadata Change Process


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Solution Comparisons

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SvalTech

Database LOAD FilesSaved image copies

Parallel databasesPartitions of operational db

Reformatted archive segmentsstored as files load files XML files special files

typically homegrownsolutions

typically vendorsolutions


How Archive Data is Stored

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SvalTech

Requires restaging data to accessNot searchable in archiveProblems handling metadata changes

Don’t get $$$$ savingsRequires database administrationProblems handling metadata changes

IndexedDirect access via SQLSeparated by archive segmentsMetadata resolution across archive segmentsCan exploit storage subsystem capabilitiesCan use hosted storage


Storage ComparisonsDB Solutions

Backup Solutions

Non-DB Special files

parallel

partitioned

db arrays

image copies

unload files

XML

load files plus

proprietary

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SvalTech


Data Structure Comparisons

Things to Look for

Is metadata maintained in archive

Is metadata validated

Is metadata enhanced

Is data restructured to achieve source independence

from application programs

from DBMS type

from source OS/ hardware

Is reference information captured in archive

Is data maintained in original form in archive forever

Can user see data form prior to conversions

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SvalTech


Data Access in the Archive

Things to Look for

Can requests be satisfied directly from the archive

Can common generic tools be used

JDBC

Report generators

Can data be unloaded in forms for re-platforming

Can data be accessed efficiently

Is it indexed

Is representations consistent

Are metadata differences accounted for

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SvalTech


Administration of the Archive

Things to Look for

Is there a full time administrator

Is there an archive catalog database

what is in the archive

where is it stored

Is security maintained

different from operational

Are actions and events logged

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SvalTech


A Myth

Homegrown Solutions are good enough.

Truth:

They do solve the problem of getting inactive data out of operational databases

However,

They do not realize maximum cost savings

They generally do not realize any cost savings

They generally cannot be directly accessed

They often require original application environment

They are never indexed

They often compromise data integrity across metadata changes

They often offer less protection from data loss

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SvalTech


A Myth

Homegrown Solutions are cheaper and faster to implement.

Truth:

A good vendor solution will guide you through the process and get done quickly

Managing the archive is easier and cheaper than managing databases

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Business Case Basics

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An AssertionSvalTech


To Get the Benefits from Database Archiving

improved operational efficiency

better data governance

lower risks

It does not need to cost a penny.

If done properly, database archiving can realize cost benefits

larger than the cost of implementation and maintaining

the archive. In most cases the savings can justify database

archiving by itself.

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Reason for Archiving

Operational operational archive

All data in operational db

most expensive system most expensive storage most expensive software

Inactive data in archive db

least expensive system least expensive storage least expensive software

In a typical op db60-80% of datais inactive

This percentageis growing

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Size Today


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Cost Saving ElementsSvalTech


Look for and compute difference in storage costs

front-line vs archive storage

byte counts differences between operational and archive

Look for and compute difference in system costs

operational vs archive systems

are operational system upgrades avoided

are software upgrades avoided

can systems be eliminated for application

can software be eliminated for application

Look for savings on people costs

can people be eliminated or redirected for retired applications

Potential savings on changes/ application renovations

simplification of design

elimination of data conversions

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Operational Efficiency ImpactsSvalTech


Will operational performance be enhanced with less data

Will utility time periods be reduced (backup, reorganization)

fewer occurrences needed

less data to process each time

Will recovery times be reduced and what is that worth

interruption recoveries

disaster recoveries

Will implementation of data structure changes be improved

avoided

reduced amount of data to unload/modify/reload

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Risk FactorsSvalTech


Will the saved data have better authenticity

not changed in archive

shielded from updates or damage

traceable back to original form

Will e-Discovery benefit from archiving

can locate and process data outside of operational environment

can easily create legal-hold archive units

Will exposure of data reduced

fewer authorized users against the archive

complete audit trails of all access

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Business Case SummarySvalTech


• Database Archiving solutions generally provide for lower cost software,

can use lower cost storage more efficiently, and run on smaller machines.

• Each business case is different

Many factors can be used in building business case

Seen an application justified on storage costs alone

Seen an application justified on disaster recovery time alone

Seen an application justified on better data security alone

• Each organization will have many potential applications

• Having a database archiving practice can create synergies across many

applications thus adding more value

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Final ThoughtsSvalTech


• Database Archiving is coming

• Database Archiving is good• Reduces cost• Improves operational efficiency• Reduces Risk

• Need a complete solution to be effective

• Need professional staff• Educated• Fulltime