Integration

Organisations can seamlessly access the power and benefits of SoftCo Storlife through numerous third party applications such as document management, content management, record management and email archiving solutions. Using direct .NET native API (Application Program Interfaces), SoftCo Storlife provides fast, easy integration with third party applications that need to securely store and quickly retrieve information.

The SoftCo Storlife API securely writes and reads content to and from storage devices, triggers events and displays information such as configuration, server information, storage categories, and space availability. Advanced server interaction can be accessed through the SoftCo Storlife Manager providing features such as scheduled garbage collection, data shredding, and verification of content integrity.

SoftCo Storlife Simple API Functions:

Write: Content to be stored in SoftCo Storlife is passed via a simple Write Function. During this function call, the calling application specifies the series to which the content is to be written. This determines the retention policy applied to the data. SoftCo Storlife then implements a hashing algorithm against the content to generate a unique Content ID or "digital fingerprint." This digital fingerprint is then stored in the SoftCo Storlife database and passed back to the calling application. The digital fingerprint and its metadata can then be used to retrieve the content from storage.

When writing content, it is also possible to specify that the retention period of the content will be subject to a future event e.g. to be retained for 7 years following the future closing of an account. The calling application can then notify SoftCo Storlife at a later date when the event occurs.

Read: Applications retrieve the content by calling a Read function and passing the unique digital fingerprint. Each piece of content is revalidated before passing it back to the calling application to further ensure the validity and integrity of the data.

Delete: The Delete function allows the calling application to delete a piece of content. This deletion will only be allowed where the content has passed its expiration date and meets the necessary security checks. If an application attempts to delete content prior to its expiration or attempts to delete content that has been marked as never to be deleted, an error will be returned to the calling application and the delete call will fail.

Application server access to the SoftCo Storlife Server is facilitated by simple API commands that allow applications to connect with their stored content using a unique content address called a "digital fingerprint". This fingerprint is used to store and retrieve all content objects from authorised applications.

RetentionHold: In order to provide for the scenario where content needs to be stored past its expiry date (e.g. due to an ongoing legal case), the RetentionHold function call will prevent deletion of content after the expiry date has passed.

SoftCo Storlife Manager Advanced Functions:

Garbage Collection: Once content has passed its retention period and has been marked for deletion, a process called garbage collection can run to recycle the storage space previously used by the file. This optimises the data stored within SoftCo Storlife to ensure maximum insert and retrieval performance.

Data Shredding: SoftCo Storlife carries out digital data shredding based on the US Department of Defense (DOD 5220.22M) standard by overwriting deleted content seven times. This ensures that the system complies with data protection regulations that require that certain data has been demonstrably and irrevocably been destroyed after it has passed its retention date.

Content Verification: Unique digital fingerprints ensure the authenticity of the file with MD5 or SHA256 hashing algorithms. If the content has been altered or modified, SoftCo Storlife API/server will produce a new digital fingerprint for the altered content. Regular/scheduled verification processes are set up to ensure content authenticity and integrity of stored information.