The National Information Technology Center (NITC) Technology Operation and Services Division (TOSD) Storage Management Branch (SMB) is responsible for services that support data storage, file restoration, and data recovery from backup sources. The SMB technicians support a mainframe enterprise storage environment and several Open Systems enterprise Storage Area Networks (SAN).

The mainframe enterprise storage strategy is designed to exploit the features of System Managed Storage (SMS), system master data set catalog and user cataloging, Data Facility Hierarchical Storage Manager (DFHSM), and Data Facility Dataset Services (DFDSS) for data storage on direct access storage devices (DASD).

Backup strategies include incremental, weekly, and monthly backup rotations. The customer has access to backup utilities, controls their dedicated backup process, and may designate one or more backup sets as disaster recovery critical data. File restoration utilities are available for the customer to initiate file recovery without involving other sources. A dedicated Automated Tape Library (ATL SILO), which utilizes high-capacity high-speed tape drives, services the level 2 DASD data migration practice and the Virtual Tape cache migration policy.

The NITC utilizes a Virtual Tape Control System (VTCS) and Host Software Component (HSC) software, which virtualizes tape volumes and tape transports. The hardware for Virtual Storage Manager (VSM) is the Virtual Tape Storage Subsystem (VTSS) RAID 6+ device with micro code that emulates 128 tape transports. The implementation benefits the NITC and its customers with reduced risk of data loss or data corruption. Operational benefits include; faster tape processing, better tape and tape drive reliability, and environmental savings.

The NITC offers our Open System customers a Storage Area Network (SAN) enterprise storage solution. The SAN features include geographical dispersed data mirroring that supports Continuity of Operation (COOP) and Disaster Recovery plans. A dual high-speed fibre network links the NITC customer's server(s) to high-end enterprise disk storage. An automated tape storage (SILO) system is accessed through a separate dedicated network link. A suite of Veritas products support the customer's backup and restore practices. An alternate NITC SAN site is designed similarly and supports disaster recovery and local processing. Encryption, firewalls, and dedicated network devices complement the network link between the two NITC facilities. A customer disaster recovery exercise conducted in January 2005 was fully successful with mounting production-replicated data, activating databases, and activating applications.

The NITC offers offsite data tape storage. The data tape inventory movement is managed by utilizing a tape management program complemented with a bar code reconciliation process. The storage facility offers numerous levels of data security, excellent disaster response strategy, and interfaces with the NITC's inventory management process.

Security practices limit and strictly control access to data and storage media. The NITC Internal Controls practices mitigate or eliminate the risk to data confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

http://www.ocio.usda.gov/nitc/storage_man.html
Last Modified: 10/01/2007