Offsite data storage and electronic data management

CipherWave Storage Solutions (Pty) Ltd recently begun construction of a new multimillion-rand state-of-the-art facility in Midrand. This 3 000 sq metre development will house the new offices of CSSI Africa (SA`s leading data recovery company) and CipherWave Storage Solutions.

This highly specialised building will consist of the latest in biometric access control, a large re-enforced data vault that comprises movement detection, infrared seeking, temperature coupled with humidity control systems and the latest in wireless and Bluetooth communication. Construction is set for completion around mid-December.

The building will house data silos, both physical and electronic with a capacity to store 848TB of electronic real-time data and a capacity to securely store 78880 - DLT, LTO, AIT or DAT Media in uniquely identifiable sockets. ID tags will be used to track each and every media cartridge that arrives at the data silo. Most impressive is that international experts have laid guidelines for this facility to get the highest security rating for data preservation that requires a constant 19 degree Celsius, 48% relative humidity, a stray magnetic field rating measured below 2 500G and a re-enforced wall that is graded to military standards.

With regard to electronic data storage, sophisticated 256-bit - 512-bit encryption will be utilised to give clients the best available security, whereby each user has a primary key to the relative data and storage location. This will allow users to access data in our silos in real-time should a data loss event occur, thereby minimising time to restore and significant value add with regard to preventing financial losses.

According to James Grcic, MD of CSSI Africa: "The encryption technology along with the data management application is in final development testing in California, USA. The development has taken 18 months, is patented and the technology suite will be ready for deployment by November this year."

The company has lined up several prominent clients already, and is seen to have a leading solution and infrastructure that will be unparalleled in SA. The date of launch for this offering will be around year-end. The facility will officially open on 2 January 2005.

"We are geared up for providing an exceptional service and will continue to focus on strategically improving methods to provide customers with their data as fast as possible should a disaster or data loss event occur. This is a niche service and with our background in technology excellence (see: Ministers Award for Technology Excellence 2003) we are perfectly positioned to become a formidable player," says Melinda Maich, Marketing Manager of CipherWave Storage Solutions.

"Cost leadership was our mission, and our business model will reduce the cost of data handling, data delivery and using computers to digitally archive information will result in ZERO risk of losing data assets."

The key highlight of CipherWave`s off-site data storage is that a service option to validate media and files on tape will be provided. This will allow directors and owners of firms to have peace of mind that IT personnel are indeed backing up data and that the media is readable and recognisable. The data is not read or mounted, but rather placed though a device and application that validates data markers and the error rate on the specific media. Should these be missing, the company will alert of the problem and suggest the replacing of media or a directive to attempt another backup.

"This is what the South African market needs," states Grcic, "and for the past two years we have built the foundation and technology and have given ourselves a marketing and competitive advantage by keeping these developments under wraps until today`s disclosure."

Customers will have the option of e-mail or SMS alerts when data or media is stored at our electronic silo or vault, and when the status of location or media has changed, is in transit or transmitted. This logging technology will further enhance peace of mind and add value to off-site data storage and management.

CipherWave Storage Solutions is a 100% South African owned entity, and is headed by a BEE compliant board of directors, with a black economic empowerment holding of approximately 26%.

Two public visits days will be scheduled in January 2005. Interested individuals are requested to e-mail visit@cipherwave.co.za to gather more information. Companies and individuals who want to make use of the vault or data silos from January 2005 should send an e-mail to info@cipherwave.co.za or contact Melinda Maich, Jan Keyser, Kendal Watt on +27 (011) 314-0294. More info: www.cipherwave.co.za