FV-Archive. Preserve what the business must be able to recover.
Archive preserves critical files and records on physically separate storage so they can be recovered, retained, attested to and relied on. Recovery, retention, compliance, continuity and evidential integrity are treated as a single discipline.
Control Module - VAULT
A record you cannot recover is a record you do not have. A record anyone can edit is a record nobody will trust.
Physically separate
Storage held apart from the live operating environment
Verified
Cryptographic integrity confirmed on retrieval
Retained
Held for the period the policy requires, no less
Recoverable
Designed to be brought back, not just stored
Records that share the fate of the systems that produced them.
Records on the live plane
Files and records kept on the same plane as the live environment can be altered, encrypted or deleted by anything that gains a foothold there.
Backups that cannot be relied on
Backups that have never been verified, or that depend on the same infrastructure to read them, do not reliably support recovery when it is needed.
Retention as an afterthought
When retention is bolted on, the periods are inconsistent, the evidence is incomplete and the next audit becomes a project rather than a query.
The Scenario
Scenario: recovering what matters after a bad day
Following an incident that affects the live environment, the priority is to recover the records and files the business needs to continue operating, satisfy regulators and reconstruct the timeline. Because Archive holds them on physically separate storage with verified integrity, recovery is a defined operation rather than a salvage exercise. The records that come back are the records that were preserved, and they can be shown to be so.
"Archive is the difference between recovery as a plan and recovery as a hope."
Where Archive holds the disconnected copy.
Archive places critical data in a copy that is not on the live network. The copy is reachable only through an authorised Transfer event into a time-bound Relay window.
Grounded in NIST SP 800-209, ISO 27001 A.8.13 Information Backup and NCSC offline backup guidance.
FV-Archive
Control layer
Operational data archive
Periodic copies of operational data are written into the offline vault. The vault is not on the live network.
Configuration and golden image archive
Authoritative configurations and golden images are stored offline, so the source of truth survives an incident.
Audit and evidence archive
Audit trails and attestations are sealed into the offline vault for the retention period.
Long-term legal hold
Material under legal hold is stored in a copy that is immune to in-place edit or deletion.
Relies on · prerequisites
- Storage that is not reachable on the live network at rest
- Tamper-evident write path
- Tested restore, not just tested backup
Pairs with · companion modules
Key Capabilities
Physically separate storage
Archived records sit apart from the live operating environment, so a bad day there does not reach them.
Verifiable integrity
Integrity is established when records are written and confirmed when they are retrieved.
Policy-driven retention
Retention periods are set by policy and enforced by the system rather than maintained by hand.
Recovery as an operation
Bringing records back is a defined operation with named owners, not an improvised salvage.
Authorised access
Retrieval, restoration and release require the right authority and the right validation.
Continuity and evidence as one
The same preserved store supports operational continuity, regulatory evidence and forensic reconstruction.
Demo to Live
Adoption Guide
Identify the records that matter
Catalogue the files, datasets and records on which recovery, retention, compliance and evidence depend.
Set the policy
Agree retention periods, integrity expectations, retrieval authorities and approved destinations.
Pilot the preservation
Move one critical class of records into Archive end-to-end, including a rehearsed recovery.
Operate and review
Extend Archive across the remaining critical records and rehearse recovery on a regular cadence.
Identify the records that matter
Catalogue the files, datasets and records on which recovery, retention, compliance and evidence depend.
Set the policy
Agree retention periods, integrity expectations, retrieval authorities and approved destinations.
Pilot the preservation
Move one critical class of records into Archive end-to-end, including a rehearsed recovery.
Operate and review
Extend Archive across the remaining critical records and rehearse recovery on a regular cadence.
Questions