Retention Configuration and Cleanup

Retention Configuration

eazyBackup uses retention policies to determine what data should be kept, for how long, and what data can be safely removed in order to free up storage space. Retention rules can be configured for individual Protected Items and for Storage Vaults.

Configure Retention (Protected Item)

Configure Retention (Storage Vault)

Retention (Protected Item)

In the Retention section of your Protected Item, you can configure a retention policy to apply when backing up this Protected Item to a specific Storage Vault.

If you have not previously configured a retention policy on the Protected Item, the retention section will display (default) to indicate that the Storage Vault default rules apply. If a policy has been configured on the Protected Item you will see Keep (X rules) to indicate that specific Protected Item retention rules have been applied.

If a Protected Item is given its own set of retention rules, these Protected Item rules will normally take precedence over the Storage Vault retention rules.


Retention (Storage Vault)

Storage Vault retention rules are the default for all data stored, unless a Protected Item has its own set of retention rules.

If a Protected Item is removed from the list of things to backup, or has its retention rules removed, then the Storage Vault retention rules will take precedence once more, and the data associated with the Protected Item will be kept, or removed, in accordance with the Storage Vault retention rules.

Example Usages of Retention Rules:

  • Change the default Storage Vault retention rule to 'Keep all data for 60 days', plus

  • Add a Protected Item rule to keep all snapshots for 90-days, plus

  • Add a Protected Item rule to keep a representative snapshot from each week, on a Monday at 6am, for 2 years.

Permanently Delete / Revoke Device

  • When a customer permanently removes a device from their backup account, the Protected Items for the device are also deleted, as well as any retention rules.

  • The snapshot data that belonged to the deleted device will now be governed by the Storage Vault retention rules.

Explanation

  • When you revoke a device, it will remove all of its Protected Items and all of the associated retention rules.

  • If the user-profile still has at least one live device that stores data in the Storage Vault, it will run the retention pass into the Vault, eventually deleting the old Protected Item data.

Example Solution

  • Set all Storage Vaults to have a changed-default retention rule of 'keep all data for 60 days', or some other period.

  • When a device is revoked, or a Protected Item is removed from the list of Items to protect, the next retention pass will fallback to the Storage Vault rules.

  • A Storage Vault retention period of 60 days will allow for mistakes to be discovered. A mistakenly-deleted Protected Item can be reinstated into the list of things to protect; or the snapshots of the Protected Item can be restored via another device registered to the same user-profile.

  • A Storage Vault retention period of 60 days will allow for genuinely-unwanted data to be automatically removed at the end of 60 days, thereby keeping storage sizes to a minimum.

Retention Pass

After each backup job, a "retention pass" runs for the Storage Vault. You can also run a retention pass for a Storage Vault on demand, by right-clicking the Storage Vault within the eazyBackup application.

  • Open the eazyBackup application

  • Click on the ellipsis -> Settings

  • Right click on your storage vault -> Advanced -> Apply retention rules now

  • To monitor the progress, login to the eazyBackup Control Panel and open the Job Logs page to view all activity.


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