How backups expire based on policy

Backups expire based on IBM Storage Protect Snapshot policy.

Expiration is the process by which SQL Server, Exchange Server, or custom application and file system backup objects are identified for deletion when the expiration date is past or the maximum number of backup versions that must be retained is reached.

The date on which data expires depends on the business needs that are identified by the recovery point objective (RPO) and the recovery time objective (RTO) of your enterprise. For example, legal, operational, and application requirements affect how data must be protected to meet these RPO and RTO demands. With IBM Storage Protect Snapshot, you can specify the number of snapshot backups to retain and the length of time to retain them.

Backups can expire during a query, backup, or restore operation of an IBM Storage Protect Snapshot session.

You specify the number of backup copies that are retained. When the maximum number of backup copies is reached, the oldest backup expires and is deleted. You can specify the maximum number of backup copies in an IBM Storage Protect Snapshot policy.

A backup copy is retained for a maximum number of days. The maximum number of days that a backup can be retained is specified in the IBM Storage Protect Snapshot policy.