It's also so much easier to just tell the auditors "Oh, data retention? Yeah, we send our tapes to Iron Mountain (or whatever flavor vendor)".
Don Guyer Systems Engineer - Information Services Prudential, Fox & Roach/Trident Group 431 W. Lancaster Avenue Devon, PA 19333 Direct: (610) 993-3299 Fax: (610) 650-5306 [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> From: Raper, Jonathan - Eagle [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 2010 2:19 PM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: Tape vs. external drive reliability? Sort of OT, but related... FWIW...healthcare data retention... IANAL, however... "American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA) recommends that health organizations keep adult patient records 10 years beyond the most recent encounter, pediatric records up to the age of majority plus the statute of limitations." http://library.ahima.org/xpedio/groups/public/documents/ahima/bok1_01254 5.hcsp?dDocName=bok1_012545 http://www.magmutual.com/risk/FAQ-answer1.html#NC In my state (North Carolina) we apparently do not have a statute of limitations on medical office record retention, however the recommendation is to keep pediatric records until a patient reaches the age of 30... Care to try and read a tape 30 years from now? (or anything else for that matter...) Jonathan L. Raper, A+, MCSA, MCSE Technology Coordinator Eagle Physicians & Associates, PA [email protected] <BLOCKED::mailto:%[email protected]> www.eaglemds.com <BLOCKED::http://www.eaglemds.com/> ________________________________ From: Erik Goldoff [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 2010 11:05 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: Tape vs. external drive reliability? Duration is also an important variable to consider. Some retention policies are for a minimum of 7 years, for tax and other financial auditing, and potentially the same for HR and healthcare data ... With only needing a 24 month recall window, I'd lean towards tapes as long as I had the capacity for my backup window. I still prefer online---nearline----offline Erik Goldoff IT Consultant Systems, Networks, & Security ' Security is an ongoing process, not a one time event ! ' From: Eric Brouwer [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 2010 10:58 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: Re: Tape vs. external drive reliability? Very good point. In my world, long term storage is 12-24 months. After that, the projects we work on are totally out of date, and replaced by newer campaigns. On Jul 28, 2010, at 10:56 AM, Erik Goldoff wrote: One thing to keep in mind for 'long term' archival is tape format and drive availability. On older tapes I'd had problems reading from a newer but 'downward read-only' compatible drive, as head alignment can become an issue. With removable hard drives, the heads ( and their alignment) go with the platters. Not saying which is safer, I'm not qualified to state a fact there. But I am presenting an opinion to think about a bit more. Erik Goldoff IT Consultant Systems, Networks, & Security ' Security is an ongoing process, not a one time event ! ' From: Eric Brouwer [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 2010 10:24 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: Tape vs. external drive reliability? *sorry for the hijack* You bring up an interesting point with the failure rate issue. Are there any good studies on what is more reliable? Tape, external drives, etc? My current weekly backup is around 2TB as well, and I use an LTO library with 6 slots. 3 tapes covers my weekly full, and nightly differentials. So far, so good. (Knock on wood...) What is safer for long term archival purposes? Tape or hard drive? On Jul 28, 2010, at 10:13 AM, Sam Cayze wrote: Eric Brouwer IT Manager www.forestpost.com [email protected] 248.855.4333 ________________________________ Any medical information contained in this electronic message is CONFIDENTIAL and privileged. It is unlawful for unauthorized persons to view, copy, disclose, or disseminate CONFIDENTIAL information. 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