SilverDane Archive 4.5 Coming Soon

We have been busy, the propellers have been spinning and the results are coming to you soon. Every component of the SD Archive suite of products has been updated, and significant changes have been made to the database metadata. This is a full suite release of SD Archive.

Introducing…

SD Archive 4.5 makes a big leap forward with what’s under the hood. The new engine includes:

•    Improved attachment handling
•    Improved search speeds
•    Improved handling of shared folders
•    Improved memory handling
•    Improved attachment check functionality
•    Improved error handling
•    Significant performance enhancements
•    Automatic handling of user moves within GroupWise Post Offices

We have also included a list of bug fixes which will be detailed in the release notes.
Look out for the release announcement coming soon, and please feel free to contact us should you require any assistance with your upgrades. Visit www.silverdane.com for contact details.

What is Cloud Computing?

Do you check your email online? Share files via the web? Pay off your credit card using online banking or download music? Then you are already using cloud computing services, probably more often than you even realise.

Cloud computing is when hardware and/or software infrastructure and services are made available remotely and connected via a network, which is usually the Internet.

Using the cloud symbol to represent the Internet is not a new idea and dates back almost 20 years. The more recent term cloud computing refers to sketches of clouds to represent networks in computing and communication diagrams.

How does cloud computing work?

Cloud computing eliminates, or at a minimum reduces the time and money an individual or company needs to invest in infrastructure and/or software. Instead of buying a new computer and software license for each new employee, a company can pay a subscription fee and buy the rights to access an Internet-based service, where the company can store its files on remote servers and access any programs it needs. You can store as much or as little as you like in the cloud.

Cloud computing is based on three main models:-

• Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) is the most basic of cloud models and provides mostly virtual servers on a pay-as-you-go basis. Other IaaS offerings include virtual machine image libraries, file-based storage, firewalls, IP addresses and software bundles.
• Platform-as-a-service (PaaS) providers offer a computing platform including an operating system, programming language interpreter and web server which is sometimes scalable, allowing application developers to create customised software without the outlay involved in buying their own hardware and software.
• Software-as-a-service (SaaS) providers offer access to their software online with a login, for example Google Mail or Dropbox. It is usually priced per user and is scalable so it can increase with demand without disruption to subscribers.

Who uses the cloud?

Cloud computing is available for both personal and business use. A Forrester Research study found 40 per cent of small businesses rated cloud services as a high priority for their business. 25 per cent of medium-sized businesses also thought cloud computing was very important for their operations.

You can access the cloud through three different models; the public, private or hybrid clouds. The public cloud is available to the general public and is either free or sold on a pay-per-use model, for example Google and Microsoft can offer access via the Internet only. The private cloud is available to individual companies who prefer to manage their own data rather than hand it over to a third party. Management of the private cloud can be done internally or outsourced and it can be hosted in-house or externally. The hybrid cloud is a combination of two or more clouds and requires cooperation between in-house and cloud infrastructure.

Why choose the cloud?

There are plenty of reasons why companies are choosing to use cloud-based applications and/or store their data in the cloud. Here are just a few of them:-

• Cloud computing reduces the workload of in-house IT staff and the cost of buying infrastructure and maintaining it
• Low upfront costs and pay-per-use means you don’t pay for more than you need
• Email archived in the cloud is backed up automatically
• Cloud services can be accessed from anywhere in the world with just an Internet connection
• Cloud computing is scalable, so as your storage needs grow, it grows with you

SilverDane can archive your enterprise email in the cloud. For more information, visit www.silverdane.com

What is eDiscovery?

The email archiving software market is a fast growing industry. Its exponential growth supports what many of us already know – email archiving is not optional. It’s a must for businesses if they want to remain compliant while not being slowed down or swamped by the rapid growth of company email that needs to be stored.

Like many businesses you may have installed email archiving software, which is running mostly unnoticed in the background. What happens if a litigation notice disrupts the status quo? What is the next step?

Electronic Discovery – commonly known as eDiscovery – is the term used to describe the process of searching and sorting electronically stored information (ESI) for potential evidence. eDiscovery occurs at the beginning of the litigation process, when the parties involved are required to exchange evidence for review. The ESI that can be searched is wide ranging and can include emails, websites, social media, instant messaging, audio, video, images and electronic documents. It is usually analysed using digital forensics. eDiscovery can be a more time consuming and expensive process than traditional discovery because of the volume of data and the various places it might be stored and also because of the potential use of metadata as evidence.

The term eDiscovery was coined in 2006 in the US when the Supreme Court amended the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) to include electronic records as discoverable in a case and therefore subject to archiving. The amendment means companies are now required to place a legal hold over potential electronic evidence if litigation is anticipated.

The first step in the eDiscovery process comes long before the litigation hold notice crosses your desk. Companies need to be proactive and implement a solid records management and retention policy to ensure their data is safe and more importantly, available, should they face a legal battle. Wait until the lawsuit begins before you save and sort through your ESI and you’re not likely to receive any lenience from a judge.

Once there is reasonable expectation of litigation, or the litigation process has already begun, you are required to place a legal hold over your ESI and other documents. The big job comes next, when legal counsel and IT staff have to work together to retrieve and sort through relevant ESI before it is reviewed.
With a good email archiving system in place, you can save yourself a lot of money and stress in the retrieval stage of the eDiscovery process because ESI can be retrieved quickly and without duplication.

Have you faced an eDiscovery request? How did you handle it? Are there processes you think you could improve on? I would love it if you joined the discussion in the comments section below.