Managing data availabilityData availability is about the timeliness and reliability of access to and use of data. It includes data accessibility.
Availability has to do with the accessibility and continuity of information. Information with low availability concerns may be considered supplementary rather than necessary. Information with high availability concerns is considered critical and must be accessible in order to prevent negative impact on University activities.
Examples of data with high availability concerns include:
- website files, which must remain accessible to prevent site downtime and disruption of service.
- payroll and tuition data, which must remain accessible to facilitate business continuity.
Consider the following when managing data availability:
- Whether data needs to remain accessible
- Which storage methods and locations are suitably accessible
- Whether data is easily re-acquired or re-created if lost, stolen, or destroyed
Data integrity and data availability are both factors in data's criticality, or how essential that data is to the University's operations.
Guidelines for data availability
When managing data availability, follow these guidelines:
- Back up data.
Backup copies of data are essential in the event that data is lost or corrupted. If the data can't be restored—even partially—from a backup, then you may need to start from scratch! - Inventory data.
You can't protect what you don't know you have. By inventorying data, you become aware of the different kinds and amounts of data in your care and can make informed decisions about how best to manage it. In some cases, you may find data that you didn't even know you had! - Follow record retention policies and procedures.
When data is no longer relevant or useful, it should be securely disposed of or archived according to the University's needs. Record retention policies establish data management requirements, including how long data should be retained and how it should be stored. - Securely dispose of data, devices, and paper records.
When data is no longer necessary for University-related purposes, it must be disposed of appropriately.- Sensitive data, such as Social Security numbers, must be securely erased to ensure that it cannot be recovered and misused.
- Devices that were used for University-related purposes or that were otherwise used to store sensitive information should be destroyed or securely erased to ensure that their previous contents cannot be recovered and misused.
- Paper documents containing sensitive information should be shredded rather than dumped into trash or recycling bins.
- Use official University accounts and systems rather than personal ones.
The University provides computing accounts and systems in part to facilitate the management of University information. When data is stored in personal or external accounts, it becomes inaccessible to others who may depend on it and may also be inadequately protected.
FAQs
Consider the following when managing data availability: Whether data needs to remain accessible. Which storage methods and locations are suitably accessible. Whether data is easily re-acquired or re-created if lost, stolen, or destroyed.
How do you manage data availability? ›
Data availability issues need a proactive strategy that combines technological solutions, constant monitoring, and adherence to best practices. To ensure high data availability, organizations should regularly analyze their data architecture, build redundancy, and be watchful against emerging security risks.
What is the most common way to maintain data availability? ›
Having a backup ensures that data is not lost permanently, can be re-uploaded, and is quickly made available in case of a memory drive or storage failure. A data backup should be stored in a different storage device in a different geographical location than the one being used to transmit data.
What do you mean by data availability? ›
Data availability is a measure of how often your data is available to be used, whether by your own organization, or by one of your partners. It is desirable to have your data available 24x7x365, which will permit your business to run uninterrupted.
Which method is used for availability of data? ›
In general, data availability is achieved through redundancy involving where the data is stored and how it can be reached. Some vendors describe the need to have a data center and a storage-centric rather than a server-centric philosophy and environment.
What is the solution for availability of data? ›
Generally speaking, software-defined infrastructure and storage help to maximize data availability. That is because when the infrastructure and file systems that store your data are defined in software and not directly integrated with the hardware that hosts them, they are easy to move around and to scale.
How is data availability measured? ›
Data availability is measured by taking total uptime and dividing it by the sum of that uptime plus downtime: Availability = Uptime ÷ (Uptime + Downtime). Availability is usually phrased as “five nines” or “eleven nines” but is typically expressed as a percentage, such as 99.999%.
What three methods help to ensure system availability? ›
Rigorously maintaining hardware, performing hardware repairs immediately and maintaining a properly functioning operating system environment free of software conflicts are the best ways to ensure availability. It's also important to keep current with all system upgrades.
How do you ensure high availability of a database? ›
High availability through redundancy
An important strategy for maintaining high availability is having redundant components. If a component fails, a secondary or backup copy of that component can take over, enabling the database to remain available to user applications.
What is an example of a data availability statement? ›
Example Data Availability Statements
The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, [initials]. The data are not publicly available due to [restrictions e.g. their containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants].
Data availability is about the timeliness and reliability of access to and use of data. It includes data accessibility. Availability has to do with the accessibility and continuity of information. Information with low availability concerns may be considered supplementary rather than necessary.
What is the data availability problem? ›
The problem with data availability occurs when the transaction data for a newly proposed block cannot be downloaded and verified.
What is the difference between data access and data availability? ›
Data access can be sequential, enabling users to access a data sequence in order, or random, allowing users to access any datum directly. Data access is closely tied to data availability, which is dependent on the ability to view, modify and move data when necessary.
How can we organize the available data? ›
Tips to ensure your data is organized in the most optimal way
- Establish consistent and clear naming practices. ...
- Keep file titles short. ...
- Use consistent file version management. ...
- Create and use a data dictionary to standardize categories and provide a definition around the role of each.
Embrace Hybrid Cloud Strategies
Cloud computing offers scalability, disaster recovery, and redundancy measures that all enhance data availability. Businesses that aren't ready to take the full leap to the cloud can employ a hybrid cloud infrastructure – a combination of on-premises and cloud frameworks.
How to ensure availability of information? ›
One of the most essential ways to ensure information availability is to have a backup and recovery plan that can restore your data and systems in case of a disaster, such as a fire, flood, cyberattack, or human error.
How do you maintain system availability? ›
5 ways to improve system availability
- Design a system with failure in mind. ...
- Mitigate risk. ...
- Monitor availability. ...
- Create a standard protocol for responding to availability issues. ...
- Optimize your preventive maintenance program.
Database availability monitors typically work by connecting to a SQL Server or other supported data source. They then perform a sample query, use it to retrieve data, and analyze the results to make sure they're correct.
How do you manage data access? ›
Guidelines for data access
- Authorize access to data only as necessary. By restricting access to data, you help minimize the risk of data exposure or misuse. ...
- Review access regularly. Routinely review access to ensure that those who still have it still need it. ...
- Do not share passwords.
