The difference between an archive and a backup

Computer Technology Review has posted an article describing the effect of the FRCP on business and corporate IT departments. The article contains the now familiar refrain to proactively manage your digital resources. One nice blurb, though, discusses the difference between archives and back-ups:

This underscores the difference between an archive and a backup system. An archive in today’s regulatory and litigation preparedness sense is an actively managed set of information kept as a business record when needed and disposed of when not. Backups on the other hand are designed for near term disaster recovery and not long term preservation. But many companies have suspended the rotation of their backup media, sometimes for years, because of a fear of sanctions or even bad press resulting from the improper deletion of this potentially discoverable data. What should have been a disaster recovery mechanism is now functioning as a very inefficient archive of all historical information. This becomes magnified as companies inherit backup media through merger and acquisition. In many instances the current IT staff has no idea what data exists upon those tapes.

Case Blurb: Benefirst; Applicability of FRCP Amendments to Case filed Prior to Enactment

The Order of the Supreme Judicial Court of the United States adopting this amendment to Rule 26 provides that such amendments “… shall take effect on December 1, 2006, and shall govern in all proceedings thereafter commenced and, insofar as just and practicable, all proceedings then pending.” This case was filed before December 1, 2006 and the instant dispute arose before the effective date of the amendment. At the same time, the case is still in the discovery stages. Furthermore, in briefing the issue, the parties have cited to the seven-step analysis for determining whether or not to shift the cost of production proposed by Judge Scheindlin in Zubulake. The notes to the 2006 Amendment to Rule 26 to a large degree adopt Judge Scheindlin’s seven-step analysis for purposes of determining whether a party should be required to search for and produce information that is not reasonably accessible. See Fed.R.Civ.P. Advisory Committee’s note to 2006 Amendment. Under these circumstances, I find that it is just and practicable to apply the recent amendments to Rule 26 to the instant dispute.

W.E. Aubuchon Co., Inc. v. BeneFirst, LLC, 245 F.R.D. 38 (D. Mass. 2007)

Case Blurb: U & I; Court wants Producing Party to clearly demonstrate irrelevance

[Producing Party] U & I argues in its motion for protective order that requiring [third party] Zimmer Spine to comply with the subpoena would be unduly burdensome, basically because the parties have already exchanged over 6,000 pages during discovery. U & I does not specify how Zimmer Spine’s compliance with a subpoena that AMD propounded would impact or burden U & I. Instead, U & I submits that the requests are irrelevant because U & I preserved AMD’s contractual rights in its distribution agreement with Zimmer Spine.
[...]
As a party to the case, U & I has standing to move for a protective order under Rule 26, Fed.R.Civ.P., if the subpoena seeks irrelevant information. See Auto-Owners Ins. Co. v. Southeast Floating Docks, Inc., 231F.R.D. 426, 429-30 (M.D.Fla.2005). Nevertheless, the party seeking a protective order still has the burden to demonstrate good cause, and must make a “particular and specific demonstration of fact as distinguished from stereotyped and conclusory statements” supporting its need for the protective order.

U & I has not demonstrated good cause for the protective order it seeks…

U & I Corp. v. Advanced Medical Design, Inc., 2007 WL 4181900 (M.D.Fla. Nov. 26, 2007) (internal citations removed, emphasis in the original)

Case Blurb: NSA Telecom Records Litigation; Discussing Preservation of Relevant Data

The duty [to preserve] extends to documents, data and tangible things in the possession, custody and control of the parties to this action…

“Preservation” is to be interpreted broadly to accomplish the goal of maintaining the integrity of all documents, data and tangible things reasonably anticipated to be subject to discovery under FRCP 26, 45 and 56(e) in this action. Preservation includes taking reasonable steps to prevent the partial or full destruction, alteration, testing, deletion, shredding, incineration, wiping, relocation, migration, theft, or mutation of such material, as well as negligent or intentional handling that would make material incomplete or inaccessible.