INF.6 Storage Media Archives

In case of fire, suitable hand-held fire extinguishers MUST be easily accessible in a storage media archive. These hand-held fire extinguishers MUST be inspected and serviced regularly. Employees working near a storage media archive MUST be instructed in the use of hand-held fire extinguishers.

A storage media archive MUST ONLY be accessible to authorised persons. Site access MUST be reduced to a minimum number of employees. Therefore, site access MUST be regulated and controlled. A concept MUST be developed for site access control. The effectiveness of the site access control safeguards it contains SHOULD be regularly reviewed. To prevent site access control from being bypassed or at least make this more difficult, the entire room MUST have mechanical resistance safeguards that satisfy the protection needs at hand; under no circumstances should they correspond to less than RC2 (in accordance with DIN EN 1627).

It MUST be ensured that the media in a storage media archive are adequately protected against dust and dirt. The requirements for this MUST be analysed in the planning phase. A strict smoking ban MUST be observed in storage media archives.

A storage media archive SHOULD NOT have windows if they can be avoided. If there are windows, they MUST be closed when leaving the storage media archive. The door MUST also be locked when leaving the room. Fire and smoke doors MUST be closed.

The storage media and other media in storage media archives SHOULD be stored in suitable protective cabinets.

In storage media archives, unnecessary water-bearing pipes SHOULD generally be avoided. If water pipes are nevertheless laid through a storage media archive, they SHOULD be checked regularly to ensure that they are still watertight. In addition, precautions SHOULD be taken so that any water leaks will be detected at an early stage. For a storage media archive with high availability requirements, there SHOULD be response plans that specify exactly who is to be informed in case of a leak and how to proceed in general.

It SHOULD be ensured that the maximum and minimum values permitted for temperature and humidity, as well as the dust content of the air in the room, are observed in a storage media archive. The air temperature and humidity values SHOULD be recorded and documented several times a year for a period of one week. Any detected deviations from the target value SHOULD be corrected promptly. The air conditioning system used SHOULD be serviced regularly.

Security safeguards such as windows, doors, and walls SHOULD be appropriate and up to the task of dealing with burglary, fire, and smoke. Depending on the protection needs at hand, a suitable resistance class SHOULD be implemented in accordance with DIN EN 1627. All security doors and windows SHOULD be checked regularly to ensure that they are still functioning properly. The entire storage media archive in question SHOULD have mechanical resistance safeguards that meet the relevant protection needs and correspond to RC3 (according to DIN EN 1627) at minimum.

An appropriate alarm system SHOULD be set up in storage media archives. This alarm system SHOULD be inspected and serviced regularly. It SHOULD be ensured that the recipients of alarm messages are able to react appropriately to them.