Retention Rules

View status and configuration information for retention rules. Retention rules identify client backup data to be collected into retention sets for long-term retention.

Retention rules are designed to help you meet your requirements for the recurring collection of data for long-term retention. They are a combined schedule and template for creating snapshots of active backup data. When you create a retention rule, you specify which clients are to have their active backup data collected, how often the data is collected, and how long the data must be retained.

A storage rule's frequency determines how often a retention set is created to take a snapshot of the active client data. The snapshot of active client data is called a retention set.

Retention rules are configured for either in-place retention, retention to tape, or retention to cloud.

With in-place retention, the retention sets that are created by the retention rule are kept in primary storage. The backup data objects in the retention set are tracked in the server inventory, and are retained according to the retention set's expiration date. The retention set's expiration date is independent of policy set specifications. A backup data object might be eligible for deletion based on its backup policy, but expiration processing does not delete the data object if it is part of an unexpired retention set.

With retention to tape, the retention sets are first created as in-place retention sets in primary storage, but are later copied to tape. With retention to cloud, retention sets are first created as in-place retention sets in primary storage, but are later copied to cloud object storage. Until a data object in the retention set is copied, it cannot be deleted in primary storage even if it is eligible for deletion based on backup policies. After the backup data object is copied, it can be deleted from primary storage according to backup policies. For more information about retention to tape and retention to cloud, see the description of the Retention Pool column.

The following actions and information are available:

Create Rule

Use this action to create a retention rule. Retention rules help you meet requirements for collecting data on a recurring basis. For example, you might have to collect financial records regularly at quarterly or year-end fiscal boundaries.

When you use the Create Rule action, you are prompted to create a retention rule from scratch, specifying all of its properties. If you are creating a retention rule that is similar to an existing one, copying and editing the existing rule can simplify configuration. To create a retention rule by copying an existing retention set and editing it, use the Create Rule From action instead.

Tip: Some data retention requirements demand that data is collected only once following an event like a contract expiring or an employee leaving your organization. For these situations, you might want to create a one-time retention set from the Clients page instead. When you create a retention set from the Clients page, you specify the clients whose active data is to be collected, and how long the data must be retained.

Details

Displays the Details notebook for a selected retention rule. From the Details notebook, you can view and edit properties of a retention rule, including the clients whose active backup data is to be retained. You can also view the retention sets that were created from the retention rule.

Create Rule From

Create a retention rule by copying an existing retention rule and editing its properties as needed. For example, if you are creating an identical retention rule across a number of servers, you can copy an existing retention rule for one server and edit only the server field.

Create Retention Set

Creates a retention set from a selected retention rule immediately. You can use this action if you do not want to wait for the rule's next scheduled start time, or if the rule is inactive.

Delete Rule

Use this action to delete a retention rule when you no longer need to create retention sets based on its template.

Restriction: If any retention sets that were created by the retention rule you want to delete still exist in the server database, you cannot delete the retention rule. Before you can delete a retention rule, wait for its retention sets to expire or explicitly delete the retention sets.

Tip: If you cannot delete a retention rule because there are associated retention sets, you can deactivate it instead. When a retention rule is inactive, retention sets are not created automatically at scheduled intervals. The retention rule's frequency property has no effect. To deactivate a rule, edit the rule and set its Active property to off.

Retention Pool

Retention sets that are created from this rule are copied to this retention storage pool to be written to tape or cloud storage. A retention storage pool can represent tape devices, including 3592 tape devices, LTO tape devices, and StorageTek drives. To store data in cloud object storage, a retention storage pool can represent a supported cloud object storage environment. A retention storage pool has an associated retention-copy storage rule, which is automatically created when you define the pool. The retention-copy storage rule runs once each day to copy retained data from primary storage to the retention storage pool. Retention sets are first created in place in primary storage, but are copied to the retention pool when its associated storage rule runs. After the copy process creates the retention set on tape or in cloud storage, the original backup objects are kept in primary storage according to backup policies only. Only the retention set data on tape or in the cloud is retained until the retention set's expiration date.

If no retention storage pool is shown, then in-place retention sets are kept in primary storage.

Retention Period

The retention period specifies how long retention sets that are created according to this rule must be retained. When a retention set is created from the retention rule, its expiration date is based on its creation date and on the retention period that is specified by the rule. After a retention set is created, its initial expiration date can be updated.

Active

Indicates whether retention sets are automatically created from the retention rule at regular intervals. Only an active retention rule is processed automatically according to its set frequency. An inactive retention rule can still be explicitly processed by using the Create Retention Set action.

Frequency

The frequency determines how often a retention set is created from the retention rule. A retention set is created according to the frequency only if the retention rule is active.

Next Schedule

The next scheduled start time for retention set creation. The next scheduled start time is determined by the frequency and start time that is specified by the rule. Inactive retention rules do not have a next scheduled start time.