Software Preservation Policy Lock for Regulated Data Immutability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Regulated industries face high costs and complexity in achieving data immutability due to the need for specialized hardware and isolated environments with existing hardware-based solutions, which also hinder data upgrades and migrations.
Innovation Solution
A software-based system that allows customers to create preservation policies to lock items against overwriting, erasure, or alteration, with a lock that cannot be turned off or removed, implemented within an existing platform to provide content immutability, reducing the need for specialized expertise and infrastructure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If hardware-based solutions (WORM-based hardware media) are used to provide immutability, then data preservation and compliance reliability are improved, but cost and device complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces hardware-based WORM (Write Once Read Many) media with a software-based preservation policy system. The system uses policy definitions stored in a database and enforced through software controls rather than specialized physical hardware, eliminating the need for expensive WORM drives and isolated hardware environments while maintaining data immutability through policy-based restrictions on data modification and deletion.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a software copy of the immutability function that replicates the behavior of hardware WORM media. By implementing preservation policies as software entities that enforce read-only restrictions and prevent data alteration, the system replicates the core functionality of hardware-based solutions without requiring the specialized physical infrastructure.
2Reliability
If hardware-based solutions are used for immutability, then compliance requirements are met, but ease of operation and data migration capability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic preservation policies that can be created, modified, and enforced through software without requiring physical hardware changes. Policies can be applied to specific data items or entire datasets and can be adjusted based on compliance requirements, enabling flexible data migration and upgrading while maintaining compliance through software-based enforcement rather than rigid hardware constraints.
3Reliability
If specialized hardware environments are used for immutability, then data security is improved, but ease of manufacture and implementation cost worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal preservation policy system that can be implemented on standard computing infrastructure and applied to multiple types of data and storage systems. The software-based approach allows the same policy framework to protect data across different platforms and storage technologies, eliminating the need for specialized hardware environments and reducing implementation costs while maintaining security through policy enforcement.
Data Source
AI summary
Customers in regulated industries face demanding compliance regulations, including content immutability. While broadened to allow software-based solutions, the regulations for immutability require content preservation to prevent overwriting, erasure or alteration of the content, where the preservation must be implemented through irrevocable features. Embodiments are directed to provision of an administrative user experience to enable customers to create a preservation policy that defines item(s) to be preserved. After detecting enablement of the policy, the item(s) may be preserved, a preservation lock on the policy may be initiated by disabling controls associated with the policy, and an attribute may be set to the policy to identify the policy as locked. Preservation of the item(s) may prevent content of the item(s) from being overwritten, erased, and/or altered, and the preservation lock on the policy may prevent alteration and/or revocation of the policy for a duration of the lock to satisfy the regulations.