This document summarizes a webinar about cloud storage and digital preservation. It discusses the UK's Cloud First policy, emerging cloud preservation services, and opportunities for shared learning. The webinar covered why cloud storage is relevant now for digital preservation, an outline of the guidance provided, different cloud service and storage options, legal issues to consider, and how cloud relates to digital preservation of records over the long term. Case studies of different archive organizations using cloud solutions were also presented. The webinar concluded there is potential for cost savings but the main benefit may be enabling new activities, though challenges around the cloud's flexibility and long-term digital preservation requirements must be addressed.

1. Cloud Storage and Digital Preservation
Neil Beagrie (Charles Beagrie Ltd)
Paul Miller and Andrew Charlesworth
Emma Markiewicz (TNA)
TNA Webinar : 13 May 2014

2. TNA Cloud Storage Guidance
Neil Beagrie : Charles Beagrie Ltd
Paul Miller : Cloud of Data
Andrew Charlesworth : University of Bristol
Daphne Charles : Charles Beagrie Ltd
The Consultancy Team

3. Webinar Overview
1. Why now?
2. The Guidance and Case Studies
3. Cloud Services and Storage
4. Legal Issues
5. Digital Preservation and Cloud Storage
6. Conclusions – potential, challenges, outcomes

4. Why Cloud Storage and DP (now)?
• Cloud First policy 2013
– Mandated for central government, strongly recommended to rest of
public sector
• Digital preservation as a strategic interest
– Increased digital content– cloud as component of preservation
solutions
• Emerging specialist cloud preservation services
– Increased utility of established generic services.
• Pilot activities in sector and opportunities for shared learning
• More options now - not just Public Cloud
• Financial pressures and interest in shared services

5. Guidance Outline
• Introduction
– Cloud storage overview, digital preservation security, legal, costs.
• Step by Step Guide
– Business case, service options and providers, procurement.
• Future Developments
• Current Best Practice
• Further advice and guidance - annotated bibliography
– Relevant studies & standards + 5 Case Studies (linked documents)
• Legal Issues tables

6. Case Studies
• Archives and Records Council Wales Digital Preservation
Consortium [Microsoft Azure/Archivematica]
• Dorset History Centre [Preservica Cloud edition]
• Parliamentary Archives [Public Cloud/Preservica Enterprise
edition]
• Tate Gallery [Archivum OSCAR]
• University of Oxford [private cloud]
• King’s College London (DuraSpace)

7. Future Updates
• Second Edition of Guidance to disseminate case study and
provider offering updates (Spring 2015)
• Second Webinar focusing on updates (Spring 2015)
• Second Edition of DPC Digital Preservation Handbook
(planned 2015-2016)
• After 2015 the guidance will be integrated into the
Handbook alongside its wider treatment of digital
preservation issues
• Subscribe to the digital preservation and NRA-Archives
announcement email lists on JiscMail, and the TNA blog via
its RSS feed to keep up to date with announcements

8. Cloud Services
• Cloud service definition (NIST 2011)
– On-demand self-service. Users can access resources
automatically as needed.
– Broad network access. Resources are accessed over the network
using standard tools.
– Resource pooling. Resources are shared between users
according to demand.
– Rapid elasticity. Users can easily provision or release resources
as needed.
– Measured service. Use of resources is metered, and users are
charged on that basis.
• “Cloud services” can have all, most, (or none!)

9. Cloud Storage
• Cloud encompasses many different things
– Not all of them are relevant today
• Agility is (usually) the biggest benefit
– Not cost (but can make savings or activity practical)
– ‘Agility’ and ‘Long-term storage’ ?
• There’s a lot of hype
– But some of it is true
• Cloud is not the answer to every IT problem.

10. It’s not just
Amazon…

11. It’s not only in
America…

12. Building Blocks
for re-sellers…

13. Here be lawyers…
• Risk assessment
– Legal requirements relating to management, preservation
and storage of data (maintenance, data security, audit)
– Legal requirements arising from obligations to or from
third parties (IPRs, data protection)
– Risks/issues relating to external service providers generally
or Cloud Service technologies or services specifically
• Allocation of responsibility and risk
– Development of appropriate Contractual and Service Level
Agreements to address elements of the risk assessment

14. Digital Preservation
“..the series of managed
activities necessary to ensure
continued access to digital
materials for as long as
necessary… beyond the limits
of media failure or
technological [and
organisational] change”

15. Record Lifecycles, Cloud and DP
• Increasing volume (and
diversity) of digital record
• Digital preservation still
often small-scale or tba
• Most archives small or small
part of larger ones
• Specialist digital activities
(and support for them)
needed
• Cloud may help with some
of them (now and in future)

16. Service Providers
• Generalists
– e.g. Amazon, Rackspace, et al
• Specialist/Niche service providers (relevant to sector)
– e.g. Preservica (Tessella), Arkivum (A-Stor and OSCAR),
Archive-It (Internet Archive), DuraCloud (DuraSpace – US
only currently), Archivematica (trial cloud deployment in
Wales)

17. Specialist Providers
• Native (generalist) cloud providers will require additional
effort
– From you, your contractors, or a third party like Duracloud or
Preservica
• Security policies, data encryption, preservation tools, etc
• Retention procedures
• Integration with local management and access tools
• Design for failure!
• None of this is impossible
– Emerging priorities and practice? – snapshot in guidance and
case studies

18. Certification and Audit
• Cloud Security
– ISO 27001:2013, Information security management systems —
Requirements.
– Business Impact Levels (IL)
– EU’s Agency for Network & Information Security (ENISA) 2013, Cloud
Security Incident Reporting
• Digital Repositories
– ISO 16363: 2012, Audit and certification of trustworthy digital
repositories
– Data Seal of Approval
– DIN 2012, DIN 31644 Criteria for Trusted Digital Repositories

19. Conclusions

20. The Potential
• Cloud services can provide professionally managed digital
storage and integrity checking
• Archives can add tools, etc. tailored for digital preservation
requirements via specialist vendors
• There can be potential cost savings but key benefit may be
enabling activity for smaller archives
• The flexibility of the cloud allows relatively rapid and low-
cost testing and piloting of providers
• There is much greater flexibility and more options in
deployment of cloud services (public, private, hybrid,
community) than before

21. The Challenges
• The Cloud is designed for flexibility and rapid change.
Archives however are long-term
• Cloud can be cheaper, but it requires you to think
differently about the way budgets are managed
• As in any form of outsourcing, exercise due diligence in
assessing and controlling the risks. You need to ensure
legal requirements will be met
• Explicit provision must be made for pre-defined exit
strategies should you need to move to another
provider (or their viability changes)

22. Outcomes
• There is much that can be learnt from archives who
have already piloted or moved to use of cloud
storage
• Several archives have integrated cloud storage into
their digital preservation activities
• We profile case studies in the Guidance

23. Further information or Follow-up
Consultancy team contact email:
info@beagrie.com
TNA Guidance on Cloud Storage and
Preservation will be published on TNA website
shortly

24. Questions?