Inventory Report Comparator
Metadata
The Inventory Report Comparator is a tool that helps users compare inventory reports from different time periods or produced by different systems. This enables the easy identification of any changes or discrepancies in the repository's content over time or to cross check if the entire content of an ingest batch has been correctly archived. This tool simplifies the process of validating the completeness and correctness of the repository content by comparing it to previous inventory reports generated during pre-ingest.
The Inventory Report Comparator component provides a Web interface which can be used to compare inventory reports, which can be uploaded or selected from a list in the server, normally when produced by RODA.
Creating an inventory report
Inventory reports can be created directly in RODA using the Inventory Report Creator plugin, a built-in plugin available in all RODA instances. They can also be created with other SIP creation tools, like RODA-in.
This process goes though all (or selected) information on the archive, data or metadata, and creates a spreadsheet with the complete list of content and their checksums.
Comparing inventory reports
This listing can be produced by the production systems, by other instances of RODA, on backups, or periodically on the same instance. The Inventory Report Comparator can then be used to compare two listings to ensure all content listed in the source is available on the target. If the comparison finds that something is missing, a list of the differences can be downloaded at the bottom.
Sometimes, when the listing is created by other systems, the fields might not match up perfectly. There can be missing columns, or columns can be in a different order. Some values might have additional prefixes or suffixes that hinder a direct comparison. The Inventory Report Comparator provides configuration tools to allow comparison of differently produced listings. When configuring, the system provides previews to help make a successful comparison.
Use cases
The Inventory Report Comparator is a crucial tool for ensuring completeness and correctness of an archive, and can be used in multiple use cases:
- To ensure completeness of transfer in multiple manual transfer projects using RODA-in
- To ensure completeness of transfer on one-time or continuous transfer from data production systems
- To ensure completeness of replication on data centre to data centre replication scenario (see Remote Replication)
- To ensure completeness of backup and restore procedures
- To evaluate how the repository changes through time (recommend policy of creating a full inventory report per year)
- To secure your archive by ensuring no data can be deleted without a trace