PowerScale OneFS 9.5.0.0 Web Administration Guide

SmartLock directories

In a SmartLock directory, you can commit a file to a WORM state manually or you can configure SmartLock to commit the file automatically. Before you can create SmartLock directories, you must activate a SmartLock license on the cluster.

You can create two types of SmartLock directories: enterprise and compliance. However, you can create compliance directories only if the PowerScale cluster has been set up in SmartLock compliance mode during initial configuration.

Enterprise directories enable you to protect your data without restricting your cluster to comply with regulations defined by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule 17a-4. If you commit a file to a WORM state in an enterprise directory, the file can never be modified and cannot be deleted until the retention period passes.

However, if you own a file and have been assigned the ISI_PRIV_IFS_WORM_DELETE privilege, or you are logged in through the root user account, you can delete the file through the privileged delete feature before the retention period passes. The privileged delete feature is not available for compliance directories. Enterprise directories reference the system clock to facilitate time-dependent operations, including file retention.

Compliance directories enable you to protect your data in compliance with the regulations defined by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule 17a-4. If you commit a file to a WORM state in a compliance directory, the file cannot be modified or deleted before the specified retention period has expired. You cannot delete committed files, even if you are logged in to the compliance administrator account. Compliance directories reference the compliance clock to facilitate time-dependent operations, including file retention.

You must set the compliance clock before you can create compliance directories. You can set the compliance clock only once, after which you cannot modify the compliance clock time. You can increase the retention time of WORM committed files on an individual basis, if desired, but you cannot decrease the retention time.

The compliance clock is controlled by the compliance clock daemon. Root and compliance administrator users could disable the compliance clock daemon, which would have the effect of increasing the retention period for all WORM committed files. However, this is not recommended.