The Web site's system administrator can define the Metis Log rollover size or have rollover set on a time-based rotation. The rollover size is set by default at 1 megabyte. Disk space on the host machine is freed as the log is successfully retrieved by the Secure Collection System. The auditor will automatically remotely set the activation and deactivation of the logging mechanism that produces this file. All communications and data transfers between the Log Retrieval Server and the Secure Collection System use a modified RC4 encryption algorithm that incorporates an embedded challenge response mechanism.
Key management is automatic, with the encryption keys changing on each message.
Log retrieval is controlled by the Secure Collection System, which can immediately collect all activity, collect the activity to a schedule, or collect at a random or scheduled sample. The Secure Collection System is built upon a cascadable architecture that enables the system to be distributed across multiple machines. It provides for a flexible assignment of clients to a specific collection machine. This helps to distribute system resources across the collection network and to optimize telecommunications by provider and geographic location. The architecture provides for an automatic fail-over in the event of a network outage.