GENMSC-L Archives

Archiver > GENMSC > 1995-06 > 0802061091


From: Gene Stark <>
Subject: Re: LDS and the Internet
Date: Thu, 1 Jun 1995 19:44:51 -0700
In-Reply-To: lprice@gsaix2.cc.GaSoU.EDU's message of 31 May 1995 23:24:18 GMT


>It is well established that there is only one real way to protect against
>corrpution of data, don't allow any outside access. All that the various
>systems that are advocated for the internet actually do is reduce the
>probability of corruption. It is a value judgment for the owner of the
>data to weigh the benefits of online connection against the risks. It is
>naive to assume there *is no* risk. There is. Anyone with experience

Yes, in a theoretical sense it is true that "the only secure computer
is one that is unplugged in a locked room." However a scheme along the
following lines would maintain the currency of the online records while
reducing the possibility of corruption of primary copy of records to a
negligible level:

System A: Maintained in a secure area, contains primary records
no on-line access, has a DAT tape drive with multi-gigabyte
capacity. The database itself it maintained on large disks.

System B: On Internet, public access with "reasonable and customary"
security precautions, has a DAT tape drive compatible with
the one on system A. This system also has a set of large
disks to maintain the database.

Periodically (say once a week), a trusted employee enters the
room where system A is kept, places a blank DAT tape in the drive,
and dumps the entire database onto tape. The employee then removes
the tape, leaves the secure area and goes to system B. The DAT
tape is placed in the drive and the entire database is restored
onto system B, completely replacing whatever data was there.

The backups of system A have to be taken anyway. As the flow of data is
unidirectional and offline from system A to system B, there is very little
possibility of an online user from system B affecting any corruption of
the data on system A (unless the trusted employee gets confused).
Corruption of data on system B will not last longer than one week.
Current DAT and disk technology permits the backup and restore of a
database in the 10's of gigabytes to be accomplished within several hours.
The data on the current LDS array of CD-ROMS, etc would fit easily in
this size.
- Gene Stark

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