MD_REL 1 How do you safely retain data for future generations?
Māori data is often considered taonga, and it is critical that this data is available for future generations. Whakapapa (genealogy) or mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) are examples where long-term retention and protection is important.
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MD_REL01-BP01: Design storage systems with multi-generational durability in mind. Multi-generational durability focuses on the reliability of having access to that data across generations. This applies to the data that you are storing, but also associated metadata that provides context for that data. The Well-Architected Reliability Pillar provides guidance on best practices for architecting resilient workloads, backing up data, and planning for disasters. By understanding what kinds of data you are storing and the possible need for the long-term preservation of that data, you can choose appropriate architectural patterns and services such as Amazon S3, which creates six copies of your data and is designed to provide 99.999999999% (11 nines) of durability. In practice, 11 nines of durability means that if you stored ten million objects, you might expect to lose a single object every 10,000 years.
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MD_REL01-BP02: Consider how your organisational archive and retention processes apply to Māori data. Many organisations have data retention and archiving processes that govern how long data is retained and how and where it is stored.
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MD_REL01-BP03: Configure your AWS account for long term continuity. Within each of your AWS accounts, it is important to have accurate and up-to-date contact details, payment/credit card information, and multi-factor authentication (MFA) for users. Keeping your contact information up-to-date helps ensure that you receive important notifications from AWS on topics like security, billing, and operations. It is a best practice to use an email distribution list, rather than depending on an individual's email address. This can help avoid scenarios where important notifications from AWS are missed if an individual is on leave or has left the organisation.
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MD_REL01-BP04: Implement backup mechanisms. The Reliability Pillar provides guidance on designing, implementing, and operating a backup solution for your data and applications. The nature of the Māori data being captured, processed, or stored influences the design of the backup solution. For example, an iwi register application or a digital archive application might call for multiple copies of backups to be stored in different locations, with different access controls due to the value of those datasets. While it may seem redundant, it's important to store backups across multiple different types of storage and in multiple different locations. This helps ensure there's always an available backup, no matter the circumstances. Where irreplaceable digital taonga is identified, it is important to consider offline replication in addition to the appropriate security and reliability controls.
