Dive Brief:

• More districts are moving to lower-cost, easy-access data storage systems for district data and student information.
• In the past, districts opted to store just a portion of their data in easy-access systems and file less-used information on cheaper, unreliable archival systems. 
• But automated archiving and cheaper offerings have led districts to select more innovative options, such as daily backups to easy-to-reach on- or offsite servers, or virtualized server networks.

Dive Insight:

As technology improves, districts have more and better options for dealing with the large amounts of sensitive data they handle. But it also increases the chance — and cost — of a failure either of security or of systems. As a result, districts are also building redundancy into their backups. Before, administrators would often backup documents to tapes daily but the tapes had to be stored and were unreliable for retrieving information later.

Now, districts can store data on more reliable disks, as well as to tiered server systems. Some districts have turned to third-party checks on their security as well, to make sure no data gets lost or ends up in the wrong hands. Third party storage options also minimize the chance that physical disasters would wipe out all storage sites.