Archival storage

Archival storage

                                    Data Engineering; Computational Infrastructure

noun phrase

Definition: Long-term storage used to preserve data that are not required for routine day-to-day operations but must remain retrievable for preservation, compliance, audit, or future reuse. In current technical and preservation literature, archival storage is associated with long-term bit preservation and tertiary or cold storage infrastructures rather than active primary storage [Basaglia et al. 2023]

Example in context: “During 2021 CERN migrated all archival storage from the earlier CASTOR system to the new CERN Tape Archive (CTA) which consequently now assumes CERN’s bit preservation responsibilities.” [Basaglia et al. 2023]

Synonyms: archive storage; long-term archival storage

Related terms: cold storage; tertiary storage; long-term retention; bit preservation