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The Vatican Apostolic Library preserves digital images through more than redundant storage: it pairs replicated systems with file-integrity checks, preservation metadata, and software that can create new access copies as formats change. The Library’s published IT Center description lists about 5 PB of NAS storage across two sites; its preservation project explains how FITS files and PREMIS metadata are used to keep image files verifiable and interpretable over time.
What does the Library’s data center store?
The Vatican Apostolic Library’s IT Center describes two storage layers for its digital holdings: network-attached storage (NAS), used primarily to preserve digital images, and a separate storage-area network (SAN). The page does not show a publication date, so these are the Library’s published configuration figures—not independently verified current capacity.
| System | Published description | Role and resilience |
|---|---|---|
| NAS | EMC Isilon cluster with 35 plus 5 nodes and about 5 PB of capacity, distributed across two data centers. | Used primarily to preserve digital images; the Library describes the storage as spanning two sites. |
| SAN | Two EMC VNX servers, each listed at 30 TB, with VPLEX duplicating data transparently. | Also replicated across two sites. |
The same IT Center overview describes more than 100 virtual machines and a network serving more than 800 servers, workstations, and security devices. Those figures likewise lack a page publication date.
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The Library’s preservation approach is built around FITS files and PREMIS metadata. FITS is the preservation image format; a corresponding PREMIS XML file records preservation information about each image. The Library explicitly cautions that choosing FITS alone is not enough: a usable archive also needs contextual information, provenance, and relationships that help explain what a file represents.
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The Library connects this work to UNI 11845:2022 and describes seven high-level requirements for its preservation system:
- Consistent, homogeneous file structure.
- Validation of files.
- Conversion to useful formats.
- Information retrieval.
- Semantic description.
- Provenance information.
- Structural relationships among images that belong to an aggregated object.
In practice, software checks each FITS file immediately after it is created. The checking software shares no code with the converter, which helps avoid relying on the same software path to both create and validate a file. The archive is then checked again every 12 months using checksums to detect changes in stored data. These checks do not replace the need for metadata: integrity answers whether a file has changed, while provenance and structural information help preserve what the file means.
How can people use preserved images as formats change?
The archive’s FITS files serve as preservation masters rather than as the only format people will ever need to open. The Library says it maintains conversion software that can render those preserved files into derivative formats suitable for scholars, researchers, and the public. That separation allows the repository to retain preservation-oriented files while producing access copies suited to changing software and user needs.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsThe Library identifies FITS4LAM as an open-source software project arising from this work. Its digital-preservation project page explains the FITS-and-PREMIS approach and its validation and conversion requirements.
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What was the digitization project’s stated scale?
A Vatican Press Office release dated 20 March 2014 announced an agreement with NTT DATA for a project aimed at digitizing and preserving about 80,000 volumes and 41 million manuscript pages, with manuscripts dating from the second through the twentieth centuries. These numbers describe the announced project scope, not a current count of completed digitizations.
The release described trained operators scanning materials on site, AMLAD as a cloud-based archive system, FITS for long-term image storage, backups at multiple locations for disaster recovery, and online distribution with search and image viewing. It records the plan announced in 2014; it does not establish current completion totals or confirm present-day AMLAD availability. See the Vatican Press Office announcement.
What keeps the facility operational?
Digital preservation also depends on the infrastructure that keeps storage and network equipment running. A Panduit case study describes an upgrade at the Library that included eight energy-efficient server cabinets, hot-aisle containment, power and environmental monitoring, and copper and fiber connectivity. Panduit reports that cooling efficiency improved by 40% compared with the previous cooling system; this is the vendor’s case-study figure, not an independently audited performance result.
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The case study frames the infrastructure as support for manuscript digitization and future access while reducing handling of delicate originals. It also quotes Luciano Ammenti, the Library’s IT Director, describing the need for technology and specialized expertise to extend services to patrons. The Panduit case study provides the installation details and attributed efficiency figure.
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How is the Apostolic Library different from the Apostolic Archives?
The Vatican Apostolic Library and the Vatican Apostolic Archives are separate institutions. The data-center, image-preservation, and digitization details above concern the Library. The Archives’ own page describes a distinct documentary collection: more than 600 archival fonds and over 85 linear kilometres of shelving, covering approximately the eighth through twentieth centuries.
The Archives page says access extends through the end of Pope Pius XII’s papacy, with specified exceptions. That describes its access policy, not digital availability of all its holdings. Its collections and access details should not be conflated with the Library’s digitization scope. See the Vatican Apostolic Archives consultation page.
Why did the project need a preservation system as well as scanning?
Scanning creates digital files, but long-term preservation requires a way to detect corruption, retain information about a file’s origin and context, and make content usable even if preferred viewing formats change. The Library’s published approach addresses those separate needs through replicated storage, FITS files, PREMIS metadata, recurring checksum validation, and derivative conversion. Its initial project page says the digital-preservation project launched in 2010 after preliminary study and testing of infrastructure, hardware, and software. That page also reported that 20% of the collections had been satisfactorily catalogued in a scholarly manner at the time described; it is a dated project figure, not a current cataloguing rate. See the Library’s initial digital-project page.
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