The backup retention policy you choose for your business is an important one. It can affect how much data you need to backup, where it will be stored, and how often the backup needs to take place. This article discusses what a backup retention policy is and then offers three different policies that are commonly used by businesses today.
Backups are important, but how long they should be retained for depends on the type of content. For example if you have an image or document that is older than a certain date then it makes sense to erase all traces of this particular item from your system so new files can take its place without being affected by any earlier versions within these items’ lifespans.
In contrast, backup retention policy for data such as emails is a little different. In the case of email backup retention policies it’s often advised to leave these on your backup system until they can be migrated into an archive or another storage solution. For more information on archiving and migrating files check out this article: Archive Data Content in Azure Backup .
The Minimum Standard
Your backup retention policy should always aim to keep backups that are required for compliance reasons (e.g., HIPAA), litigation holds, disaster recovery efforts, etc.) while removing old backups from other systems. Many organizations use a “minimum standard” backup retention policy where one keeps all daily incremental images plus weekly full images going back for a certain number of months. For example, if daily backup images are taken for 30 days and those backups take up one TB (1024 GBs) per month then keeping three full backup images (one from each week) should be enough to meet the minimum standard.
The Maximum Standard
The maximum backup retention policy is where you keep all data as long as possible without impacting system performance or storage costs too much. This could mean sticking with your backup jobs until they’re no longer viable by using old hardware that’s not fast enough to run them anymore. In cases like this it would be best to have an archiving solution in place so that once the time comes when you must retire your old backup servers you can easily migrate your backed-up data to a new backup system.
In the case of an archiving solution, you’ll need to keep all backups for as long as possible or at least until your backup retention policy has been met and then satisfy the legal requirement that comes with your industry regulations. In some cases this might mean storing backup images in a fireproof safe indefinitely – even though they won’t be used again – which is why it’s so important to have a proper backup retention policy in place before disaster strikes!
Good Data Retention Policy
A good data retention policy is one that’s up-to date and covers all aspects including legal requirements, backup plan in case anything goes wrong, who will have access to the information etc.
We are happy when our employees have clear understanding of what their responsibilities are through clearly communicated guidelines on this topic so they can perform them effectively without any confusion or hesitation We also offer regular training courses about latest technologies such as encryption software which helps prevent data breaches from happening.
It’s also essential to backup your data on regular basis so you can restore it in case of any loss. We offer backup services that are affordable and reliable, which ensures all data is kept safe at the end of every day. Our backup software works automatically without disrupting work flow or performance of servers during backup process. This way our clients don’t have to worry about backups not being completed successfully!
