Web storage will increase collaboration
Web storage will increase collaboration
Companies that store their data on the Internet will be able to collaborate more effectively, according to science group CSIRO.
"Developments in Web Services, Grid computing and advance networking are turning the Internet into a worldwide platform for distributed applications, services and information."
As reported in January, CSIRO is researching and developing a technology that will enable businesses to store data on the Internet rather than in conventional storage area networks (SAN) or other technologies. Paul Greenfield, the research group leader said the aim of this research is to create a system that allows selected company data to be stored on the Internet for special purposes, such as project management.
The key to CSIRO's Internet storage system is a security key; all data files are broken up into objects and then encrypted. These encrypted objects are stored randomly across a PC network. Mr Greenfield said the system was "somewhat like" peer-to-peer technology (P2P), but unlike P2P, the CSIRO system is "more constrained and managed." "The commercial needs are for control and secure access. Peer-to-peer is more about we are going to have lots of copies of this and share it. We worry about encryption and how to dynamically change access rights," he said.
CSIRO describe Internet storage as only being useful if all the information stored is safe, private and always retrievable. As a result no single server keeps all the information on what the original data holds, or how to reconstruct the fragments. A secure key is needed to reconstruct the data and the keys are only given to authorised users.
"Making files tamper proof is an important feature for e-commerce. The integrity of documents such as invoices, receipts and health records must be guaranteed. Our system will detect discrepancies between the original and the reconstructed files and trace any suspected tampering," he said.
CSIRO do not see their system as competing against existing storage systems, instead they see it as a solution that is ideal for short term storage needs that require collaboration between different part of a company or other businesses.
"This is not a response to a lack of storage space. Data storage is so cheap now that most organisations can easily afford all the disk space they need. It is about providing intelligent storage systems that take into account the security and flexibility needs of enterprises - especially when they need to share data and business processes," said Paul Watters, who is developing the system with Mr Greenfield.
"Developments in Web Services, Grid computing and advance networking are turning the Internet into a worldwide platform for distributed applications, services and information," said Mr Greenfield.
A prototype of the system was demonstrated to the Federal government in Canberra recently and a second version is already under development. Funding for the project comes from Centre for Networking Technologies for the Information Economy (CeNTIE).
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