DRAFT: Data Protection Pattern

Purpose

The Data Protection Pattern defines the approved reference architecture for protecting University data throughout its lifecycle.

This pattern describes how data protection services, recovery services, encryption services, retention capabilities, monitoring services, identity services, and workload architectures fit together to support protection of University information assets.

The pattern provides a common architecture supporting data confidentiality, integrity, recoverability, lifecycle management, and accountability across University-managed technology environments.

Applicable standards, workload classifications, data classifications, legal obligations, regulatory obligations, contractual obligations, and business requirements determine the controls implemented within this architecture.

Use Cases

This pattern applies when:

  • Hosting applications
  • Hosting databases
  • Hosting storage services
  • Hosting data products
  • Hosting platform services
  • Implementing data protection capabilities
  • Protecting backup and replicated data
  • Protecting information exchanged through integrations
  • Supporting data lifecycle management
  • Supporting recovery and restoration architectures

This pattern does not define:

  • Encryption requirements
  • Access-control requirements
  • Retention requirements
  • Disposition requirements
  • Backup requirements
  • Recovery requirements
  • Classification requirements
  • Monitoring requirements
  • Regulatory requirements

Pattern Application

The Data Protection Pattern provides a common protection architecture for University-managed data.

Innovation Workloads

Innovation workloads implement data-protection architectures appropriate for experimentation, pilot initiatives, research, and evaluation activities.

Enterprise Workloads

Enterprise workloads implement the Data Protection Pattern using the standard enterprise protection architecture.

Regulated Workloads

Regulated workloads implement the Data Protection Pattern using additional protection capabilities, governance requirements, and obligation-specific extensions.

Design Principles

Data-Centric Protection

Protection capabilities follow information assets regardless of workload type, hosting architecture, platform service, storage technology, or integration model.

Protection by Architecture

Protection capabilities are incorporated into workload and platform architectures rather than introduced after deployment.

Lifecycle-Based Protection

Protection architectures support information throughout its creation, storage, movement, recovery, retention, and disposition lifecycle.

Recoverable Information

Protection architectures support restoration and continued availability of information assets following operational disruption or failure.

Composable Architecture

Data-protection capabilities are assembled from reusable architecture components supporting multiple hosting architectures and workload classifications.

Shared Protection Services

Data-protection capabilities may leverage approved enterprise services supporting multiple workloads and hosting environments.

Logical Architecture

Information Assets
        |
        +-- Applications
        +-- Databases
        +-- Storage Services
        +-- Data Products
        +-- Platform Services
        |
        v

Data Protection Architecture
        |
        +-- Encryption Services
        +-- Recovery Services
        +-- Retention Services
        +-- Monitoring Services
        +-- Identity Services
        |
        v

Protected Information Assets

Data Protection Architecture Components

Encryption Protection Component

Provides architecture supporting implementation of confidentiality capabilities through approved encryption and key-management services.

Recovery Protection Component

Provides architecture supporting restoration and recovery of protected information assets.

Retention Protection Component

Provides architecture supporting retention, lifecycle management, and information-governance capabilities.

Monitoring Protection Component

Provides visibility into data-protection architectures through integration with approved monitoring capabilities.

Data Recovery Component

Provides restoration architecture supporting recovery of information assets following disruption, deletion, corruption, or service failure.

Shared Protection Component

Provides reusable enterprise protection capabilities supporting multiple workloads and hosting environments.

Data Governance Component

Provides architecture supporting integration with governance, classification, inventory, ownership, and accountability capabilities.

Data Protection Domains

Data Creation

Data creation architectures establish protected information through approved applications, services, integrations, and business processes.

Data Storage

Data storage architectures provide persistent repositories supporting business, academic, research, analytical, and operational functions.

Data Movement

Data movement architectures support communication, integration, replication, synchronization, exchange, and information-sharing functions.

Data Recovery

Data recovery architectures support restoration of information assets following operational disruption or failure.

Data Retention

Data retention architectures support lifecycle-management and information-governance capabilities.

Data Disposition

Data disposition architectures support removal of information assets when lifecycle-management processes determine they are no longer required.

Data Protection Boundaries

Workload Data Boundary

The workload data boundary contains information assets directly supporting a workload.

Enterprise Data Boundary

The enterprise data boundary contains shared information services supporting multiple workloads.

Backup and Recovery Boundary

The backup and recovery boundary contains protected recovery copies and restoration services.

Retention Boundary

The retention boundary contains information assets and services supporting lifecycle-management functions.

External Data Boundary

The external data boundary contains information exchanges with systems outside University operational control.

Data Protection Integration

Identity Integration

The Data Protection Pattern integrates with the Identity Pattern to support protection of information through identity-aware services and access-management capabilities.

Network Integration

The Data Protection Pattern integrates with the Network Pattern to support protected movement of information between workloads, services, and platforms.

Monitoring Integration

The Data Protection Pattern integrates with the Monitoring Pattern to provide visibility into protection, recovery, governance, and lifecycle-management activities.

Resilience and Recovery Integration

The Data Protection Pattern integrates with the Contingency and Resiliency Pattern to support restoration and recovery of protected information assets.

Shared-Service Integration

The Data Protection Pattern integrates with approved enterprise shared services supporting protection, monitoring, governance, management, and recovery capabilities.

Landing Zone Integration

Landing Zones implement this pattern through approved data-protection architectures and reusable platform capabilities.

Operational Responsibilities

Enterprise Service Providers

Enterprise service providers own enterprise data-protection services, recovery services, retention services, and shared protection capabilities.

Platform Engineering

Platform Engineering owns reusable data-protection architecture components, onboarding automation, and Landing Zone data-protection integration.

Information Security

Information Security provides security requirements consumed by data-protection architectures and participates in reviews and investigations.

Data Owners

Data owners provide information regarding ownership, classification, lifecycle, retention, recovery, and accountability requirements.

Workload Teams

Workload teams own workload integration, stewardship participation, operational implementation, and workload-specific protection architecture.

Automation Pattern

Data-protection architectures should be implemented through approved platform automation whenever practical.

Automation may support:

  • Protection-service onboarding
  • Recovery-service integration
  • Monitoring integration
  • Identity integration
  • Retention-service integration
  • Landing Zone integration
  • Workload onboarding
  • Protection-architecture validation
Protection Definition
        |
        +-- Protection Services
        +-- Recovery Integration
        +-- Monitoring Integration
        +-- Identity Integration
        +-- Governance Integration
        |
        v

Reusable Protection Components
        |
        v

Landing Zone or Workload Deployment
        |
        v

Integrated Data Protection Architecture

Protection-automation components should be reusable across supported hosting architectures, workload classifications, and platform products.

Reference Architecture Outcomes

A workload implementing this pattern should provide:

  • Data protection architecture
  • Data confidentiality support
  • Data integrity support
  • Data recovery support
  • Data lifecycle integration
  • Data classification integration
  • Identity integration
  • Monitoring integration
  • Recovery integration
  • Shared-service integration
  • Reusable protection architecture
  • Repeatable onboarding
  • Support for workload and obligation-specific extensions

Exceptions

Exceptions to this pattern must follow approved architecture governance and information security exception processes.

Approved exceptions must be periodically reviewed and must not be treated as permanent architecture patterns.

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