External attachments are transaction-related attachments that are stored in the production database. You can archive encrypted or unencrypted external attachments to the target database or the Data Vault. External attachments can be archived with the data you want to archive or retire, or independent of their associated data.
If you want to archive or retire encrypted external attachments, such as Siebel attachments, to the Data Vault, you can use the Data Vault Service for External Attachments (FASA) to convert encrypted attachments from the proprietary format. You can then access the decrypted external attachments through the Data Discovery portal.