NAGARA: SRB and iRODS

Building the Archives of the Future

Why SRB and iRODSWhy SRB and iRODS

The Case of the TPAP

National Archives and Records AdministrationElectronic Records Archives (ERA) Program

Building the Electronic Records Archives

ERA Vision

ERA will be a comprehensive, systematic, and dynamic means of

preservingpreserving and providing continuing accesscontinuing access

to any typeany type of electronic record free from dependencefree from dependence

on any specific hardware or software, created anywherecreated anywhere in the Federal Government.



• ERA Requirements– Scalability

• 10 Trillion Digital Objects, 350 Petabytes

– Evolvability• Change Components Without Disrupting the System

– Extensibility• Deal with 4,000+ File Formats and Those Still to be Invented

– Manageability• Must be able to Invoke NARA Policy with Changes Over

Time



• Beyond the Current State of the Art

• ERA Research for Risk Mitigation– 50 Research Partnerships– World Class Computer Scientists and

Engineers– White House Coordinated Research Activity


TPAP

• Transcontinental Persistent Archives Prototype (TPAP)– Testbed Used for Many Research

Collaborations– 10 Years (Multiple Generations of Software)– Migrating from SRB to iRODS (Greater Policy

Flexibility)– 7-node Data Grid– 10 M+ Unique Files


Lessons Learned - Questions to Ask

• Scalability– How Many Bytes Can the Software Manage?– How Many Digital Objects Can the Software

Manage?– Will it Scale Down (e.g., Run on a Laptop)?– Will it Scale Up (e.g., Run on a

Supercomputer)?



• Evolvability– How Do You Export the Data From the

System?– How Many Generations of the Software Have

They Migrated Records Across?– What Software Environments Does it Operate

Across?



• Extensibility– Have the Developers Been Able to Extend the

Software to Work Seamlessly with New:• File Formats• Operating Systems• Database Software• User Interfaces



• Manageability– What Archival/Records Management Policies

Does the Software Support?– Can You Easily Customize the Software to

Support Your Repository’s Policies?


Your Contact in the ERA Program Management Office

Mark Conrad [email protected]

ERA CommunicationsERA Communications

[email protected]

NAGARA: SRB and iRODS

Technology

Transcript of NAGARA: SRB and iRODS