BNSC Report Fall 2007 David Giaretta

CASPAR Consortium Integrated project Total spend 16MEuro

…CASPAR Strongly based on OAIS Passed 1 st year EU review

CASPAR Aims Produce tools and techniques to support digital preservation and make it easier to share the cost –must be relatively easy to use –must have a low “buy-in” in terms of effort required for adoption –must avoid requiring wholesale change of everyone else’s systems –must be decentralised and reproducible so that it can live on after the formal end of the CASPAR project –must be “preservable” –must be open: open source, open standards Cannot do everything –Working closely with other projects

Validation How can we judge any proposed solution? CASPAR validation metrics: –Theoretic underpinning –Testbed scenarios addressing real issues No “hand-waving” – use what is there now Accelerated lifetime tests –Hardware and Software –Environment –People –Improved “trustability”/”certifiability” Live a long time Evidence - not proof

CASPAR information flow architecture Rep Info Virtualisation

RegRep Data Curator Registry RepInfo toolkit Repository Gap Manager Orchestration Application User Data Source INFRASTRUCTURE ELEMENTS

Preservation Aware Storage and Preservation DataStores Preservation Aware Storage - The storage component of a digital preservation system that has built-in support for both bit preservation and logical preservation. Presevation DataStores (PDS) is a new OAIS-based preservation- aware storage. It offloads functionality to the storage layer –Decrease the probability of data loss –Simplify the applications –Provide improved performance and robustness –Utilize locality properties Compute data intensive functions internally e.g. fixity Provide better support for links among objects

Preservation Aware Storage Functionality FunctionalityRational Physically co-locate the Information Object (AIP). However, this is relaxed if the AIP data already resides in an existing archive Ensure metadata is never lost when raw data survives Execute data intensive functions at the storage component: –fixity computations and validation –data transformation Utilize the data locality property Lessen data transfers to applications Handle technical provenance events internally E.g. migration and copy occurs at the storage Simplify applications Support the loading and execution of external transformations Ideally performed during bit-migration performed close to data

Preservation Aware Storage Functionality (Cont.) FunctionalityRational Maintain referential integrity Update links during migration Ideally done during migration Ensure readability of the data by a different system in the future. Support global self-described formats Interaction with backend storage Support media migration Load and execute transformations Portable export format Interaction with backend storage Support a graceful loss of data Self-describing self-contained media format Minimize the effect of media loss/corruption

PDS Architecture Preservation Web Services Applications Ingest, Access, Administration, … backend Preservation Engine Layer Preservation DataStore AIP XAM Layer Object/File Layer  Layered approach  Prototype based on open standards  OAIS, XAM, OSD  Generic gradual mapping from logical to physical object  Independent of physical storage  Independent of stored data type  Scalable

PDS Architecture HL OSD + Object Store XAM to OSD Preservation Web Services XAM Library Applications Preservation WSDL Ingest, Access, Administration, … XAM API WAS CE backend Security Admin web service XAM to FS File System VIM API sockets VIM API RepInfo Mgr Placement MgrMigration Mgr PDI Mgr Preservation Engine Preservation DataStore HL OSD AIP posix I/O Preservation Engine Layer XAM Layer Object Layer

Preservation DataStores Preservation DataStores are OAIS-based preservation aware storage API covers different options for ingest and access, configure policies and enables updates of AIPs and PDS code Prototype implements mainly ingest and access using web services References –“Towards OAIS-Based Preservation Aware Storage - A White Paper“. –“The Need for Preservation Aware Storage - A Position Paper". ACM SIGOPS Operating Systems Review, Special Issue on File and Storage Systems, Volume 41, Issue 1 (Jan 2007), pp –“Preservation DataStores: Architecture for Preservation Aware Storage”, to appear in 24 th IEEE Conference on Mass Storage Systems and Technologies (MSST), –Web site -

Data Value Vector Image Earth Observation image Astronomical image Spectrum Time Series Virtualisation - building up data types… 3-D data

FITS FILE FITS STANDARD PDF STANDARD FITS JAVA s/w JAVA VM PDF s/w FITS DICTIONARY SPECIFICATION UNICODE SPECIFICATION XML SPECIFICATION

RepInfo Gap Management UserInfoObjectRImoduleProfileDataObject u1 u2p2 p1 m3 m2 m4 m1 o2 o1 interpretedUsing

Content dependent components Representation Information tools –Structure EAST DRB DFDL Virtualisation assistant –Semantics RDF editors RDFSuite Terminology capture –Software UVC Hardware emulators Trust, Authenticity & Provenance tools –Certification assistant –PREMIS Packaging tools –XFDU toolkit Use existing tools where applicable Develop new tools as needed and resources allow

Strawman Architecture…

…CASPAR Architecture Overview

CASPAR meets OAIS - 2

OAIS Information Model and CASPAR API

OAIS Information Model Capture in UML diagrams 1.Add “obvious” methods get/set for sub-components e.g. we know AIP has PDI so need get/setPDI 2.Add “best guess” methods Iterators over contents May need to change

Summary The Conceptual Model is based on OAIS and works out some implications It suggests area of Research –Intelligibility –Structure Virtualisation –Authenticity It leads into the Architecture which is –Broadly applicable –Is useful not just for Preservation but also interoperability Note - Registry/Repository of Representation Information – –

Digital Curation Centre DCC Development closely linked to CASPAR Other linked JISC funded projects: –SCARP –Significant properties of software –…may be others

Audit and Certification

The need for Trustable Repositories Task Force on Archiving of Digital Information (1996) declared, – “a critical component of digital archiving infrastructure is the existence of a sufficient number of trusted organizations capable of storing, migrating, and providing access to digital collections.” –“a process of certification for digital archives is needed to create an overall climate of trust about the prospects of preserving digital information.” A recurring request in many subsequent studies and workshops

Trusted Digital Repositories Invited group, hosted by Research Library Group (RLG) Concerned with organisational and financial issues Trusted Digital Repositories: Attributes and Responsibilities (TDR) –

Critique of TRAC Closed process –Single review of draft document Many changes based on unpublished “test audits” Underplays “understandability” –Important for data –Assumed not to be important for “documents” Simple list – –Do ALL boxes have to be ticked? –What does a “tick” mean anyway? Link to other standards –ISO 17799/27001 for security (overlap with TRAC section C) –ISO 9000 – say what you do and do what you say –but impractical to demand multiple independent audits

ISO process status New group set up with the primary aim of producing an ISO standard –Repository Audit and Certification (RAC) OPEN process –Wiki open to all –Mailing list open to all –Virtual meetings normally every week –See Into ISO via CCSDS – same route as OAIS –Some organisational/procedural changes in CCSDS Currently a Birds of a Feather (BoF) group –To demonstrate adequate support for the work Subsequently should become a Working Group Documents agreed by the WG will then be reviewed by CCSDS and more broadly via international ISO review process

Current status Reviewing and comparing –TRAC –NESTOR –DCC documents Do we need another ISO standard? –Could we could simply add to existing standards e.g. ISO –The view is that ISO CANNOT be modified adequately It’s view of Information is too limited Started drafting a straw man document –Taking TRAC and add concepts from other docs

Key Issues How to get from a checklist to an international accreditation/ certification system? Evidence – short term Evidence – long term –The real crunch! Quantification –The marking system Levels of audit? –External review –Internal maturity

The Market Transparency Trustable? –certified by whom? –to what level? –what evidence? –for what Designated Community relevant/sensible? What cost?

Links RAC group Wiki: – TRAC document – Digital Curation Centre – CASPAR project –EU project on digital preservation – Science, Culture and Arts data Infrastructure, tools and detailed case studies – what does one need to actually “understand” the data? –

Alliance for Permanent Access Members: –Science and Technology Facilities Council –Koninklijke Bibliotheek –Deutsche Nationalbibliothek –Max Planck Gesellschaft –International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers –European Space Agency, ESRIN –Fernuniversität in Hagen –European Organization for Nuclear Research –Georg-August-Universitat Gottingen Stiftung Oeffentlichen Rechts –European Science Foundation, –Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, –Centre Informatique National de l’Enseignement Supérieur, –UK Joint Information Systems Committee, –British Library –National Archives of Sweden

Alliance status First stage – fairly informal sign-up Preparing for Conference in Nov More formal framework next year

PARSE bid Consortium is a sub-group of the Alliance EU bid Aims at E-Infrastructure for Preservation –Roadmap –Survey of what is in place and planned –Gap Analysis –Impact Analysis tool

Other opportunities NSF solicitation, entitled Sustainable Digital Data Preservation and Access Network Partners (DataNet) – –informational meeting for prospective Principal Investigators will be held 10 am to noon, Tuesday, November 6, 2007, Room 595 NSF Stafford II building, Arlington, Virginia. –