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The proliferation of unorganized data presents significant hurdles. Organizations often struggle to manage unstructured data, including text files, images, videos, and PDFs, due to the enormous scale of this type of information and its rapid growth rate. As Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, a prominent authorized agency also known as Katten Regulation, introduced new regulations and safety measures, parents on their list faced an additional layer of concern.
It’s daunting to convey one’s ideas amidst the overwhelming abundance of unorganized data. By 2025, IDC forecasts that the globe will produce more than 175 zettabytes of data within a 12-month period, having subsequently revised its estimate downward to approximately 163 zettabytes.
According to IDC, simply storing 163 zettabytes of uncooked information would require more than 700 billion 1TB drives, which is clearly impossible since the world has only approximately 13 zettabytes of installed storage capacity across all mediums, including HDDs, flash, tape, and even telephones. According to IDC, approximately 7.5 zettabytes of data are indeed committed to permanent storage, revealing that the majority of information remains unwritten, and storage capacity is likely overstated.
The Katten Regulatory Group recognizes significant growth in development costs. The regulatory agency, with a global workforce of 700 attorneys, faces the monumental task of storing hundreds of thousands of documents related to tens of thousands of cases spanning multiple decades. The agency stores approximately 240 terabytes (TB) of data, which grows by 20-25 percent annually, according to Alexander Diaz, its director of infrastructure and data center operations.
Until recently, the regulatory agency maintained a bespoke, unorganized data archive system, migrating information from initial Windows file systems to archival storage servers installed within its central data center.
Despite encountering several operational hurdles, Katten Regulation’s team sought out an alternative solution after identifying key issues, as revealed in a recent interview with Diaz. The agency launched an innovative supervisor of unstructured information management solutions, conducting a proof-of-concept experiment.
During the proof-of-concept phase, it became apparent that roughly 70% of the archived data stored on our file servers was stagnant and hadn’t been accessed in over three years, with many cases having reached a point of closure. The original intention behind proposing the large-scale archiving challenge was actually to mitigate our public exposure in the event of a potential ransomware attack, thereby safeguarding the integrity of the data.
Upon conducting a thorough review of the software, Katten Regulation uncovered a multitude of benefits. Many archiving options employ a stub within the manufacturing file system to denote archived data. When consumers require access to stored data, they submit a query stub to the archival resolution system, which promptly retrieves and provides the requested information. Despite this, should anything occur to the stub, regaining access to archived information could prove extremely challenging, as Diaz cautioned.
The company’s approach stands out from others. They employ a symbolic hyperlink system that functions essentially as a shortcut. On your Windows desktop, you likely have a shortcut that points to the path of a specific file or program on the operating system. Even if a shortcut or symbolic link has been interrupted or disappeared, you can still navigate to find the original file or program.
Diaz noted that another advantage of using Komprise software is the time-based archiving of unstructured information, a valuable feature. With traditional archive packages, records are typically archived based on a predetermined time frame. In cases where paperwork has remained unused for a three-year period, the documents are automatically archived.
Within the regulatory enterprise, Diaz noted that the approach doesn’t function effectively.
While many court cases within authorized disputes remain inactive for extended periods, they can suddenly resurface. We’ve had the privilege of serving as counsel to an individual. Following a verdict, there is often a period of time between the original incident and any subsequent appeals or hearings. Timing alone does not always work.
Komprise empowers Katten Regulation to automatically archive case-related records data once a matter is definitively resolved, rather than adhering to an arbitrary time frame that may not accurately reflect its current status. After archiving paperwork, consumers seeking a read-only copy of archived information can access it through a desktop shortcut, which retrieves the data from the Komprise archive and stores it on local storage devices, according to Diaz.
As part of a strategic initiative, the agency is currently undergoing a major technology shift by migrating its primary data repositories from traditional hard disk drives to high-performance flash storage solutions. By transferring excess data to a Komprise-based archive hosted on Microsoft Azure Blob Store, businesses can enjoy cost savings while also benefiting from faster primary storage, noted Diaz.
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“We’ve experienced a consistently high level of performance from Komprise,” he noted. For more than three years, access to both closed instances and inaccessible information was initially hindered. Six months ago, we reduced the threshold to a two-year period of no activity or instance closure, resulting in an additional 40 terabytes being migrated to Azure.
By streamlining Windows file shares and reducing storage needs, the regulatory agency can potentially save funds, particularly as it prepares to transition to a new platform by year-end. “We won’t need to invest in additional storage capacity, which will result in cost savings for our next procurement,” Diaz stated.
While measuring the profitability of enhanced information safety at Katten Regulation may prove challenging? As ransomware threats escalate yet again this year, it is evident that proactive measures bring tangible value to law firms.
“Moreover, I must stress that this decision will not compromise our public image because archiving these files ensures they cannot be compromised by hackers or ransomware attacks.” “They won’t have access to these records.” The employees wouldn’t be affected by any type of safety incident.
