Formtek Successfully Completes Major Data Migration for NASA JPL

Formtek, Inc., a leader in enterprise content management solutions, is proud to announce the successful completion of a significant data migration project for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). This monumental achievement involved transferring 38 terabytes of documents and technical data from JPL’s Xerox® DocuShare® servers to the Hyland Alfresco enterprise content management system.

The migration encompassed a wide variety of content, including business information, plans, spreadsheets, photographs, videos, technical drawings, data, and software code. Among the more complex objects migrated were emails with attachments, mirrored objects, HTML pages, and URL links. The project also meticulously mapped document owners and permissions and ensured that objects linked multiple times in the filing hierarchy were correctly prioritized based on original and CDR (Critical Design Review) locations.

Two-Phase Migration Process

The data migration was executed in two phases. The first phase involved exporting data from DocuShare
into a neutral XML format. This step was crucial for ensuring that the data could be seamlessly imported
into Alfresco. The export process utilized a direct approach to access properties stored in the DocuShare
Oracle® database, significantly speeding up the process compared to using the DocuShare command-line API.

The second phase involved importing the data into Alfresco using an optimized version of Alfresco’s bulk
import tool. This tool was customized to handle the specific requirements of the JPL project, such as
assigning owners and access control lists (ACLs), creating associations for email attachments, and
establishing file and folder links. This customization was essential due to the complex relationships created by important folders and files being linked multiple times across various libraries.

This extensive project spanned over three years and involved more than 500 libraries and 10 DocuShare instances, including numerous active flight projects and line organization libraries. At the conclusion of the project, JPL noted of the Formtek team, “Their technical expertise, dedication, and professionalism was
pivotal for this project’s success.“

The completion of this project marks a significant advancement in NASA JPL’s data management
capabilities, ensuring that critical information is securely and efficiently managed within the Hyland
Alfresco platform.

About Formtek®: For over two decades, Formtek has been providing mission-critical IT software and services to some of the most demanding engineering, manufacturing, aerospace, industrial, and technical organizations in the world. We build products and solutions for content management platforms that are open and adaptable to complex IT environments, including Formtek | Orion Content Repository Services and the Alfresco® Digital Business Platform. Our software application solutions include the Formtek Engineering Data Management (EDM) Solution for Alfresco.
To learn more, visit www.formtek.com.