{"id":13354,"date":"2016-03-22T12:44:46","date_gmt":"2016-03-22T08:44:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.msp360.com\/blog\/?p=13354"},"modified":"2024-02-12T16:02:25","modified_gmt":"2024-02-12T12:02:25","slug":"backup-retention-policies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/blog\/backup-retention-policies\/","title":{"rendered":"Backup Retention Policies and Versioning in MSP360 Backup"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p>This blog post applies to the legacy backup format only. For latest information about backup formats and contemporary retention settings and stragegies, refer to the MSP360 <a title=\"MSP360 CloudBerry Lab help\" href=\"https:\/\/help.msp360.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">help documentation<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The<strong> Retention Policy<\/strong> feature in MSP360 Backup allows you to create and delete copies of your files automatically. This article explains how to configure different options of the retention policy feature in MSP360 Backup.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<div class=\"table-of-content \">\n\t\t\t\t<p>Table of Contents<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<ul><\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<h2><b>Retention Policy and Versioning<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/backup\/\">MSP360 Backup<\/a>, we call each copy of a single file a <em>version<\/em><b>. <\/b>You can create several versions of a file during its lifespan accordingly to your security settings. We track each version of each file that was created and give you full control over it. All user files are accompanied by a list of their previous versions in the backup system.<\/p>\n<p>All of the Retention Policy options are available in the backup plan settings you choose. To get a clear understanding of those choices, select any backup plan, click <b>Edit Backup Plan,<\/b> and enable <b>Advanced Backup Mode <\/b>to configure custom retention policy settings on the corresponding step of the backup plan wizard.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-30102\" src=\"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Backup-retention-advanced-settings.png\" alt=\"Backup retention advanced settings\" width=\"658\" height=\"513\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Backup-retention-advanced-settings.png 658w, https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Backup-retention-advanced-settings-300x234.png 300w, https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Backup-retention-advanced-settings-624x486.png 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 658px) 100vw, 658px\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Please note that the retention policy feature also applies to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/managed-backup\/\">MSP360 Managed Backup<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2><b>Delete Versions Older Than<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>This parameter of the retention policy settings allows you to delete all file versions that were created before a certain date (day, week, month and year can be chosen), based on the initial backup or last modification date of your files.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-54645\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/backup_retention_2_07092022.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"857\" height=\"667\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/backup_retention_2_07092022.png 857w, https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/backup_retention_2_07092022-300x233.png 300w, https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/backup_retention_2_07092022-768x598.png 768w, https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/backup_retention_2_07092022-624x486.png 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 857px) 100vw, 857px\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>You can check the box <b>Always keep the last version. <\/b>It acts as a safety lock and prevents the loss of the last version of your data, even if that version is out-of-date according to the policy settings<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2>Keep Number of Versions<\/h2>\n<p id=\"last\">This option allows you to set a limit on the number of versions of a file that you retain. This setting is useful when you need to configure a policy without a specific date. It is especially convenient for data that is rarely updated. For example, information on a website might be rarely updated, but you still want to track its history to prevent data loss or a sudden malware attack. You can do so by simply choosing <strong>Keep number of versions<\/strong> and setting the desired number of copies.<\/p>\n<div id=\"slidebox\"><a class=\"close\">\u00a0<\/a><!--HubSpot Call-to-Action Code --><span class=\"hs-cta-wrapper hs-cta-deferred\" id=\"hs-cta-wrapper-15de95d7-79cb-4945-b80d-11e3dbd96d60\" data-portal=\"5442029\" data-id=\"15de95d7-79cb-4945-b80d-11e3dbd96d60\"><span class=\"hs-cta-node hs-cta-15de95d7-79cb-4945-b80d-11e3dbd96d60\" id=\"hs-cta-15de95d7-79cb-4945-b80d-11e3dbd96d60\"><!--[if lte IE 8]><div id=\"hs-cta-ie-element\"><\/div><![endif]--><a href=\"https:\/\/cta-redirect.hubspot.com\/cta\/redirect\/5442029\/15de95d7-79cb-4945-b80d-11e3dbd96d60\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"hs-cta-img\" id=\"hs-cta-img-15de95d7-79cb-4945-b80d-11e3dbd96d60\" style=\"border-width:0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/5442029\/15de95d7-79cb-4945-b80d-11e3dbd96d60.png\" alt=\"CTA\"><\/a><\/span><\/span><!-- end HubSpot Call-to-Action Code --><\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-54645\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/backup_retention_2_07092022.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"857\" height=\"667\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/backup_retention_2_07092022.png 857w, https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/backup_retention_2_07092022-300x233.png 300w, https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/backup_retention_2_07092022-768x598.png 768w, https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/backup_retention_2_07092022-624x486.png 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 857px) 100vw, 857px\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Use the <strong>Delay purge for<\/strong> option to give yourself extra time to review files that are scheduled to be purged. It\u2019s another safety lock for your backup strategy<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"further-reading \">Further reading<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/blog\/tips-from-steve-delay-purge-what-is-it-and-should-i-use-it\/\">Delay Purge \u2013 What Is It and Should I Use It?<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2>Delete Files That Have Been Deleted Locally<\/h2>\n<p>This option allows MSP360 Backup to purge unnecessary files from the backup storage. If a file was deleted from the dataset, it will be deleted from your cloud backup storage location automatically during the next run of the MSP360 Backup. This option helps free up storage space and simplifies the management of large backup datasets.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-54646\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/backup_retention_3_07092022.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"354\" height=\"126\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/backup_retention_3_07092022.png 354w, https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/backup_retention_3_07092022-300x107.png 300w, https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/backup_retention_3_07092022-350x126.png 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote><p>We recommend using this option in conjunction with the parameter <strong>Delay purge for<\/strong> (described above), just to add extra protection<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2><b>Create Default Retention Policy<\/b><\/h2>\n<blockquote><p>Note that the default retention policy applies to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/blog\/data-backup-plan\/\">backup plans<\/a> in the legacy backup format only<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>If your retention policy can be standardized and you want it to be enabled for all backup plans by default, go to<strong> Tools - Options - Retention Policy<\/strong>. You can also enable and manage default retention policies directly from the Backup Wizard.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-30098\" src=\"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Cloudberry-default-retention.png\" alt=\"Default retention policy\" width=\"1010\" height=\"685\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Cloudberry-default-retention.png 1010w, https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Cloudberry-default-retention-300x203.png 300w, https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Cloudberry-default-retention-768x521.png 768w, https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Cloudberry-default-retention-624x423.png 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1010px) 100vw, 1010px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><b>Block-Level Backup and Retention Policy<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><strong>A block-level backup<\/strong> feature allows you to upload only the parts of files that have changed since the last backup, instead of uploading whole files.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"further-reading \">Further reading<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/blog\/block-level-backup\/\">Block-Level Backup Explained<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"call-to-action\">\n<div class=\"call-to-action__left\" style=\"width: 65%;\">\n<div class=\"call-to-action__tag\">FREE WHITEPAPER<\/div>\n<div class=\"call-to-action__title\">Guide to Backup Types<\/div>\n<div class=\"call-to-action__text\">Which type of backup is right for your needs?<br \/>\nLearn in our whitepaper:<\/div>\n<!--HubSpot Call-to-Action Code --><span class=\"hs-cta-wrapper hs-cta-deferred\" id=\"hs-cta-wrapper-5f90acef-7e19-46bb-be06-9e418139a1e1\" data-portal=\"5442029\" data-id=\"5f90acef-7e19-46bb-be06-9e418139a1e1\"><span class=\"hs-cta-node hs-cta-5f90acef-7e19-46bb-be06-9e418139a1e1\" id=\"hs-cta-5f90acef-7e19-46bb-be06-9e418139a1e1\"><!--[if lte IE 8]><div id=\"hs-cta-ie-element\"><\/div><![endif]--><a href=\"https:\/\/cta-redirect.hubspot.com\/cta\/redirect\/5442029\/5f90acef-7e19-46bb-be06-9e418139a1e1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"hs-cta-img\" id=\"hs-cta-img-5f90acef-7e19-46bb-be06-9e418139a1e1\" style=\"border-width:0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/5442029\/5f90acef-7e19-46bb-be06-9e418139a1e1.png\" alt=\"CTA\"><\/a><\/span><\/span><!-- end HubSpot Call-to-Action Code -->\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"call-to-action__right\" style=\"width: 35%;\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Types-of-Backup-WP-icon.png\" alt=\"Whitepaper icon\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In MSP360 Backup, a single incremental block is considered a version. Thus, if you configure MSP360 Backup to keep 3 versions of a file, the backup will only start purging data beginning with the fourth <strong>full<\/strong> version of the file. Here\u2019s how it works:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Block-level-retention-policy.gif\" alt=\"Block-level retention policy example\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Due to this architecture, it is necessary to schedule full backups periodically. Doing so will ensure that the purge feature works properly.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13374 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Full-backup-schedule-retention-policy.png\" alt=\"Full-backup-schedule-retention-policy\" width=\"1349\" height=\"864\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Full-backup-schedule-retention-policy.png 1349w, https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Full-backup-schedule-retention-policy-300x192.png 300w, https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Full-backup-schedule-retention-policy-768x492.png 768w, https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Full-backup-schedule-retention-policy-1024x656.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Full-backup-schedule-retention-policy-624x400.png 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1349px) 100vw, 1349px\" \/><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Schedule full backup with the following settings<\/strong> \u2014 If you check this box, you will see an additional window with a timetable where you can choose certain periods of full backup copy creation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Run full only if the total size of previous block level backups larger than<\/strong> \u2014 Here, you can set a percentage ratio that cannot be exceeded by increment copies in relation to the full version. If their size exceeds the limit, a new full copy containing its own chain of backup copies is created. All other copies of the earlier chain can then be deleted safely.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>If you have any questions regarding versioning or retention policies, let us know in the comments below, or on our official <a href=\"https:\/\/forum.msp360.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">MSP360 Forum<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This blog post applies to the legacy backup format only. For latest information about backup formats and contemporary retention settings and stragegies, refer to the MSP360 help documentation The Retention Policy feature in MSP360 Backup allows you to create and delete copies of your files automatically. This article explains how to configure different options of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[877,894,882],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog-articles","category-msp360-backup","category-msp360-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13354","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/69"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13354"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57552,"href":"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13354\/revisions\/57552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13354"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13354"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.msp360.com\/resources\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}