SUPPORTData Retention, Versions and LiveVault
Data Retention, Versions and LiveVault
A brief review of LiveVault's handling of older backups.
LiveVault only makes one full backup, the initial backup. After this, all backups are delta backups of just the new and changed blocks within files and databases. On the backend (and in the TurboRestore Appliances) the LiveVault software maintains an elaborate cataloging system so that any version of a file and database can be re-assembled from any point in time that is a retained version of the data. Thus on the restore screen every backup version appears as though it were a full backup, a full snapshot from that point in time.
But LiveVault does not keep every backup version forever. The delta blocks and catalog entries for older backups are merged and/or eliminated as time passes. The rules for this are summarized below:
- Every backup is kept for 24 hours. (If the backup schedule is set to Continuous, there will be up to 96 versions from the most recent 24 hours. If the schedule is set to nightly, there will be only one.)
- For the most recent week, the period of time more than 24 hours ago and less than 8 days ago, LiveVault keeps up to 4 versions per day (or it keeps all versions if less than 4 were made in a day.)
- For the most recent month, the period of time more than 7 days ago but less than 31 days ago, LiveVault keeps just one backup per day. This is the last backup that was made on a day. Often this is the 11:45pm backup.
- If the backup retention is set to 30 day history, then don't expect there to be any backups more than 30 days old.
- If the history retention is set for 1 year, then for the period of time more than 30 days ago there will be month-end backups going back 11 months (if LiveVault has been in use for a full year). The month-end backup is the last backup that LiveVault made in a particular month - the last backup on the last day of the month.
- If the history retention is set for 7 year, then for the period of time more than 1 year ago there will be calendar quarter end backups for an additional 6 years. (The month-end backups from March, June, September and December are kept for 6 more years.)
