Digital labs don’t have to be confined to a single location. Today’s technology makes it possible to run a “virtual” lab with the examiners and the central evidence repository located in geographically separate locations. This arrangement has several advantages, including cost savings, greater access to more resources (tools and storage, for example), access to diverse and greater expertise, and reduction of unnecessary duplication of resources (Craiger, 2008). This virtual arrangement allows for distinct role-based access. For example, full access could be granted to examiners and laboratory management. Prosecutors, investigators, and defense attorneys would have restricted access. This restricted access would limit what those folks could see and what they could do (read only, etc.) (Whitcomb, 2011). There are some considerable concerns with this approach:

1. Security—The security of the system must be robust enough to maintain the level of evidence integrity required by the courts. Otherwise, there could be catastrophic consequences, such as rendering evidence from multiple cases inadmissible.
2. Performance—For this scheme to work, connectivity must be both speedy and reliable. No connection or a slow connection will quickly affect the organization’s ability to function.
3. Cost—Startup costs in particular are substantial and potentially beyond what many agencies can afford (Whitcomb, 2011).