Concepts behind OAIS Archive Task Team WGISS 23 May 21 – 25, 2007 Hanoi, Vietnum

OAIS  OAIS – Open Archival Information System  Created by Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) to standardize basic functionalities of any archive system  Defines components and interactions of a full-featured stand-alone archive  Organized by function 7 key functional areas 33 specific functions defined

OAIS Organization  Identifies essential functionalities  Provides a standard vocabulary  Improves interoperability between archives  Does not help much in consideration of multiple archives within one facility

A different view of OAIS  Try to improve usefulness by reorganizing based on data format: Data items are contained in packages Three different formats for data package:  SIP (Submission Information Package)  AIP (Archival Information Package)  DIP (Distribution Information Package) Most pieces of information will live in all three formats at different times

Information Package

IP-based view of OAIS archive  Three main regions Archive Core performs stewardship on data; AIP data is “ context-free ” Mission “ wrapper ” interacts with data providers and converts SIP to AIP Consumer Access interacts with customers and converts AIP to DIP  Operate within an environment Execution provides direction, care and feeding Environment is functionality required to support operations

Focus of Responsibility  Archive Core Problem space: Technology solutions as they relate to data integrity and system performance Isolation from data provider and customer concerns allows focus on underlying technology  Mission “ wrapper ” Problem space: Primarily that of the data provider Negotiates SIP format for data providers and converts SIPs into AIPs for archival  Consumer Access Problem space: Customer Provides catalog, data access, billing and accounting, customer service, outreach  Execution Problem space: Operation of the archive Provides tactical business execution, O&M  Environment Problem space: Archive support Functionality that enables and supports an operational archive

Archive Core Considerations  A major part of the archive that deals with data only in an AIP format, isolated from concerns about data providers or downstream customers  Data is context-neutral so design of this part of the system can be generic Allow reuse, possible COTS solutions Focus technical resources on technology to allow better tracking of emerging technology trends  Technology Refresh – In most digital archives, technology becomes obsolete within the required lifetime of data within an archive. With a standard interface to other parts of the system, it is possible to change out the Archive Core without impacting data providers or consumers  Only characterized by: Type (Active, short-term, long-term, etc.) Capacity Performance

Benefits in single archive environment  Put skill focus where appropriate Archive Core specialists focus on data security, emerging technology and methodologies, performance Execution staff focus on the archive business mission and standardized administration  Improve quality Mission specialists focus on the data provider Consumer Access specialists understand the needs of the customer  Enabler of state-of-the-art implementations Tracking emerging technology is a huge and expensive undertaking. By focusing responsibility of Archive Core staff, it becomes easier to implement advanced technologies that will be required in the future (operational automation, automated fault detection/recovery). COTS solutions could amortize cost across many archive systems, making it much cheaper than custom designs

Multi-archive environment  Deploy and optimize Archive Cores based on archive types needed in the facility rather than by mission  Faster and easier to deploy new missions  Multiple missions can share system resources Reduce complexity Reduce expense and system footprint Reduce operational and maintenance expense  Improve interoperability and control

Support multiple missions  With a new mission, have the choice of building an entire new archive or attaching to an existing Archive Core If already have an Archive Core that provides the required type of storage:  Make a wrapper to attach to the existing Archive Core  If necessary, grow Archive Core capacity to accommodate new archive growth  Add schema to the catalog  Only new development would be if it has a new SIP that you don ’ t currently handle  Already have staff and resources in place – just add mission specialists

Efficient Data Migration  Assuming a standard AIP format, migration merely involves changing the Packaging Information, moving the data and populating catalog

Possible Enhancements to OAIS  OAIS model is fairly new (Jan. 2002) and is still evolving  Enhancements that would be beneficial: Define interfaces to allow clients and external catalogs to “ plug in ” to the archives Allow for hybrid architectures

Comments and Suggestions?  Any next steps?  How ATT contribute to GEO?  Does WGISS want to explore moving toward? What are the mutual advantages?  Does ATT should continue? Close? Unify to other TT ? Open ATT once a year?