Transparent persistence, or human-readable persistence, is the practice of keeping a copy of repository contents as files on disk.
Synchronizing
There are a few different scenarios for keeping the disk copy in sync with the repository content:
- The copy on disk is the only copy, and the repository uses it as the primary repository storage
- The copy on disk is an additional copy of the data, updated synchronously during request processing
- The copy on disk is an additional copy of the data, updated asynchronously, e.g., by receiving JMS events and retrieving repository content
Rationale
Different users have different rationales for wanting to access repository content as files on disk, such as:
- Being able to use disk-based tools and workflows
- Reducing the technology stack and skills required to recover repository content
Role in preservation
Having a copy of repository content on disk may enable a preservation workflow, but it is not a preservation strategy by itself. So transparent persistence is "preservation-enabling", allowing a disk-based preservation workflow to easily access the repository content.
