Data Archive Strategies
At our company, we have a shared location (K:\) for all of our archived data....basically, jobs that are complete, etc. This is separate from our project directories (M:\). What we've typically done in the past is provide the Project Manager a list of folders so that they indicate which jobs can be archived & then the folders are moved to the K:\ drive. If users need to view or access these files once they're on the K:\ drive, they're supposed to move the folder back to the M:\...especially since the XREF paths in our CAD files won't be correct & won't display properly until moved back to the M:\ drive. Of course, for other files (ie-.doc, .xls, .pdf), this isn't an problem & they can be viewed without issue when left on the K:\.
The problem is, we have some users that copy the project folder back to the M:\ instead of moving it. A few months later, when I go to archive completed projects, I don't know if the version that was copied to the M:\ is now different then the version left on the K:\...and because I don't want to loose data, I end up moving a second copy back to the K:\. Hunting down the user & asking them doesn't always help since it could be months since they touched it & they simply don't remember.
Not only does keeping a second copy of projects eat up a lot more storage space, but it also creates confusion for the next user that needs to look for info in the archived project.
Besides simply reminding our users about the proper procedures for moving archived jobs back to the active jobs folder, is there a way to control this with permissions? Or at least compare supposed duplicated files between the K:\ & M:\ so that we don't have 2 possibly identical copies of the same archived job on the K:\?
The problem is, we have some users that copy the project folder back to the M:\ instead of moving it. A few months later, when I go to archive completed projects, I don't know if the version that was copied to the M:\ is now different then the version left on the K:\...and because I don't want to loose data, I end up moving a second copy back to the K:\. Hunting down the user & asking them doesn't always help since it could be months since they touched it & they simply don't remember.
Not only does keeping a second copy of projects eat up a lot more storage space, but it also creates confusion for the next user that needs to look for info in the archived project.
Besides simply reminding our users about the proper procedures for moving archived jobs back to the active jobs folder, is there a way to control this with permissions? Or at least compare supposed duplicated files between the K:\ & M:\ so that we don't have 2 possibly identical copies of the same archived job on the K:\?
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ASKER
Hey LesterClayton...wow! I didn't realize that about the files retaining their date even though the folders don't! Thanks for clarifying! We'll give it a shot! ^_^
ASKER
Thanks for the suggestion. But I wonder if it would work for us? When files are copied from the K:\ to the M:\, the modified date of the file & folders change. Isn't this the only way the copy, or even robocopy commands would determine which files are the latest & greatest?
Additionally, the "M:\ToArchive" folder defeats the purpose of bringing the project back from the K:\ since the XREF paths in the CAD files would still be off & unable to locate the referenced files' locations.