Configuring Backup Settings for Long-Term Data Retention with Space Optimization

This article provides guidelines for configuring backup settings to achieve high data retention while optimizing disk space usage. The configuration allows for daily backups with one-day granularity from the last two months and storing monthly backups for up to seven years.

Backup Task Settings

1. Backup Type: Set to Delta. This ensures that only changes since the last backup are saved, reducing space requirements.
2. Schedule: Configure the backup to run daily or on specific days of the week (e.g., Monday-Friday) according to the organization's needs.
3. Rotational Copies: Set the number of rotational copies to 62. This setting retains backups from the last 62 days, covering approximately two months.
4. Optimization: Choose the option Optimize for Space Saving. This reduces space usage by eliminating unnecessary data.

This configuration allows you to browse the file history with one-day granularity from the last two months.

Replication Settings

To maintain monthly backups for long-term retention:

1. Replication - Disk Drives (Backup Task Settings window):
   • Go to the replication settings for disk drives.
   • Select the option Only Full Archives to replicate only complete backups.
   • Set the Number of Copies in Replication Location to 84. This number is calculated based on 12 months × 7 years, allowing monthly backups to be stored for seven years.
2. Replication Tab -> Disk Drives:
   • Go to the Replication tab and select Disk Drives.
   • Set the Mode to Scheduled.
   • Configure the Schedule to run on the Last Day of the Month at a specified time (e.g., 23:00).

This setting ensures that a full backup is replicated monthly to the replication location, providing long-term data retention.

Applying Settings to Multiple Tasks

To apply these settings to all backup tasks simultaneously:

• Use the Multi-Edit feature available in the software. This ensures consistency and saves time by updating all tasks at once.

Additional Recommendations

To enhance data security and comply with retention policies:

• Offsite Storage: Consider replicating these monthly backups to tape drives or optical media for offsite storage.
• License Upgrade: Note that replication to tape drives or optical media may require an upgrade to a higher license version (e.g., Pro or Enterprise).

Conclusion

By applying these configuration steps, it is possible to balance efficient disk space usage with the need for both short-term and long-term data retention. This configuration ensures the availability of daily backups for immediate recovery needs while maintaining monthly archives for compliance and historical purposes over a period of seven years.

See Also