Document Management System for Data Orchestration for Dell

Introduction

A full document management system is often a large, expensive software deployment that puts it out of reach for simpler workflows. Combining PowerScale SMB shares and Dell ECS object storage with Golden Copy, Ransomware Defender, and Easy Auditor provides a lower-cost, storage-team-managed alternative that covers the core document management requirements: secure storage, versioning, auditing, and immutability, without a dedicated document management application.

Benefits

• No additional training cost for administrators or end users, since access is through ordinary SMB shares.
• Reduced operational complexity by using the automation features already built into the Superna product set.
• Combining file and object storage lowers the price point for workflows that need versioning and immutability.
• Tight integration with PowerScale and Dell ECS features.
• The entire solution can be managed by the storage team, simplifying support.

Use Cases

• Legal or compliance requirements for a system that tracks document changes, provides auditing and data security, and demonstrates chain of custody.
• Document workflows requiring a clear chain of custody from creation to completion.
• Media and entertainment workflows involving sensitive project documents.
• Police dash-cam and body-cam video chain-of-custody reporting.
• Surveillance video retention.
• Legal hold and legal investigation document workflows.

Requirements and Components

• PowerScale
• Dell ECS
• Golden Copy with the Pipeline license
• Ransomware Defender for PowerScale
• Ransomware Defender for ECS
• Easy Auditor

How the Solution Meets Document Management Requirements

Document Management Requirement	How It's Met
Secure document storage	PowerScale SMB3-encrypted file shares.
Full auditing of user access to data	Easy Auditor provides reporting and real-time detection of behavior affecting secured document data.
Transparent document versioning	Dell ECS object storage retains versions of each document; Golden Copy automatically detects document versions and syncs them to object storage.
File-to-object sync for long-term retention of document versions	Golden Copy provides incremental sync to ECS, enabling document versioning along with metadata protection (owner, group, mode bits, timestamps, folder ACLs).
Immutability of documents for chain of custody	Dell ECS Object Lock on versioned data provides long-term retention and read-only access to document versions, supporting legal hold and forensics requirements.
Legal or end-user read-only access to document versions	Golden Copy's Cloud Browser lets an authorized user or legal reviewer view locked document versions and download a single file for local viewing, without the ability to edit or delete locked versions.
Real-time ransomware protection of document data	Ransomware Defender for PowerScale and ECS provides real-time detection, protection, and recovery automation for both file and object storage from a single interface.
Real-time data loss prevention	Easy Auditor provides real-time alerting when a user attempts to bulk-copy sensitive data from the secured SMB share, including the user name, source IP address, and the affected file list.
Real-time mass-delete detection and protection	Easy Auditor detects mass file deletion attempts and provides recovery snapshots, alerting with the user name, source IP address, and affected file list.
Delete propagation protection	Deletes from the SMB share can be configured to be ignored by Golden Copy, preserving all documents in the object store. Golden Copy's recycle/delayed-delete mode can instead move delete requests into a separate bucket for review, so administrators can see what data was requested to be deleted.
Real-time delete notifications	Easy Auditor can track file and folder deletes and notify administrators in real time with the user name, source IP address, and affected file list.

Configuring the Solution

1. PowerScale SMB share: create an SMB share for users to store and collaborate on documents, and configure SMB permissions using Active Directory groups.
2. Easy Auditor:
   • Enable PowerScale auditing on the access zone containing the SMB share.
   • Configure a Data Loss Prevention Active Auditor rule on the SMB share path to alert on bulk data copies from the secured share.
   • Configure a Mass Delete Active Auditor rule on the SMB share path to alert on mass file deletion by any user.
   • Configure a custom trigger for login/logoff tracking of users accessing the share.
   • Configure a custom trigger for file deletes on the SMB share path, to track users who delete secured data.
3. Golden Copy:
   • Configure a folder sync with an incremental schedule (for example, every 10 minutes) against the SMB share path — see Scheduling Jobs.
   • Enable the recycle bucket feature to move delete requests to a separate ECS bucket, or disable incremental delete sync entirely so no data is ever removed from ECS — see Sync Deleted Files During Incremental Jobs.
   • Enable Active Directory login so legal reviewers or authorized users can browse document versions stored in the ECS repository through the Cloud Browser.
4. Dell ECS: enable Object Lock and bucket versioning to store long-term, immutable document versions.

See Also

• Compliance Guide — Object Lock, immutability, and auditability details.
• Cloud Vault — A related immutable, versioned vault architecture using Golden Copy and Ransomware Defender.
• Integration Guide — Ransomware Defender Zero Trust integration steps.