Preserving Long-Term Access to Decommissioned Database Systems With Immortal Database Access (iDA)

Abstract

When a database system is decommissioned, retaining its data, structure, and query capabilities is often crucial for future restoration and access. The Immortal Database Access (\iDA) solution focuses on preserving decommissioned databases along with their stored information and retrieval functionalities. Building upon the Immortal Virtual Machine (\iVM) technology, \iDA provides tools that ensure long-term preservation of databases on physical storage media. This includes not only safeguarding the stored content but also enabling its regeneration with functional search capabilities. For this purpose, two innovative elements are introduced: {\it \dbspec}, a new language for managing the decommissioning process, and a {\it Read-Only Access Engine (ROAE)} which serves as an interface to future users who wish to retrieve the decommissioned information stored on the long-term substrate. ROAE complements the SIARD (Software Independent Archiving of Relational Databases) standard. Although SIARD is effective at preserving database data and metadata, it lacks the ability to capture the essential search and query functions necessary for meaningful information retrieval. \iDA addresses this limitation, ensuring that decommissioned systems remain accessible and functional for future users.