AXF—Archive eXchange Format: Interchange and Interoperability for Operational Storage and Long-Term Preservation

The Archive eXchange Format (AXF) is a new protocol for the storage of files in bulk form in objects that group the files and carry associated metadata in a well-defined manner. AXF Objects abstract storage containers from other system elements, making the same storage containers usable on all generations of all media types. The AXF protocol provides for interchange of AXF Objects and media containing them between archive systems, enabling interchange of such Objects over networks or through physical media transfer and promoting interoperability of such systems. AXF Objects include file systems to establish hierarchical relationships between the files and folders that they contain. They have no limits on the types, numbers, sizes, and relationships of those files and folders. AXF provides for storage of individual objects on multiple media through spanning, for updating of objects through the mechanism of collected sets, and for resilience of storage through use of data structure redundancy and checksums.