
In the second part of this series I would be discussing about how to use IBM Infosphere Optim Solution to implement data retention policies in your enterprise environment. The IBM Optim Architecture above lays out the various components that make up a typical Optim installation although in a large scale implementation there might be more elements but for the purposes of this discussion this would suffice. From the data retention point of view the most critical element in this layout is the storage profile.
A Storage Profile is an object in the Optim Directory that lets you provide rules for managing your archive
media according to the needs of your site.
- During an Archive Process, Archive references the parameters in a Storage Profile to obtain rules for:
- Determining the type of secondary media to use for Archive Files,
- Creating duplicate Archive Files,
- Copying Archive Files to a supported backup device,
- Setting a WORM device or Centera minimum retention period, and
- Options to automatically delete the primary Archive File.
By default, Archive Files exist for an indefinite period of time until manually deleted. A retention policy allows you to manage the life span of Archive Files by scheduling them for automatic deletion. You must determine the number of days for which the data in an Archive File remains active, and configure the Optim Server to scan Optim Directories for Archive Files with a retention policy.
Lets look at a typical retention policy definition in a storage profile.

A retention policy does not protect Archive Files from manual deletion (for example, by using Windows Explorer or Archive Directory Maintenance). After creating an Archive File, you can postpone or cancel the automatic deletion using the Archive
Directory Information dialog.
Options to automatically delete the primary copy of the Archive File are available in this tab.
Note: Options to delete the primary Archive File do not affect the management of duplicate Archive
Files.
Delete After
Select this check box to automatically delete Archive Files created using the Storage Profile.
Days
The number of days (1 to 9132) to retain the primary copy of the Archive File.
I will continue to discuss about data retention in the next part of this series.Hope you enjoyed reading this blog and do send me your valuable comments. In case you would want me to blog on something specific to IBM Optim do let me know and I would attempt to include that in my future blogs.
Before signing off on a different topic, One thought that worries me is that as a scientific community we are "inventing patents" rather than "patenting inventions". Companies are increasingly looking at patents as means of defensive mechanism for settling corporate scores rather than making a real change in human life. Well I would talk about this thought in probably more detail in some other post.
Well this is much food for thought for now. Till next time its me Girish, signing off.