Retention settings

To minimize the amount of storage used and reduce storage costs, Server Backup data that is no longer needed is automatically deleted from storage.

The following retention settings in a Server Backup policy specify how long to keep each backup before maintenance processes delete the data:

• Standard retention. If this option is selected, every backup is kept for 30 days and the first backup of each month is kept for 12 months.

• Custom retention. If this option is selected, backups are kept as specified by the following values:

  • Keep daily backups for specifies the number of days to keep every backup: either 7 days or 30 days

  • Keep weekly backups for specifies the number of weeks to keep the first backup of each week, where a week starts on Monday. If Not required is selected, the first backup of each week is not kept for a specified amount of time.

  • Keep monthly backups for specifies the number of months to keep the first backup of each month. If Not required is selected, the first backup of each month is not kept for a specified amount of time.

  • Keep yearly backups for specifies the number of years to keep the first backup of each year, where a year begins on January 1. If Not required is selected, the first backup of each year is not kept for a specified amount of time.

The following table summarizes how long backups are kept, depending on your retention settings.

Backup Type	Description	Standard retention settings	Custom retention settings
Daily backup	Every backup, including unscheduled or "ad hoc" backups.	Kept for 30 days	Kept for the number of days specified for daily backups in the custom retention settings: either 7 days or 30 days
Weekly backup	First completed backup in a week, where a week begins on a Monday. If a backup is completed on a Monday, it is considered the weekly backup for the week. If there are no completed backups during a week, there is no weekly backup for the week.	No retention settings for weekly backups	Kept for the number of weeks specified for weekly backups in the custom retention settings
Monthly backup	First completed backup in a month. If weekly backups are kept, the first weekly backup of a month is considered the monthly backup. If weekly backups are not kept, the first completed backup of the month is considered the monthly backup.	Kept for 12 months	Kept for the number of months specified for monthly backups in the custom retention settings
Yearly backup	First completed backup in a year, where a year begins on January 1. If monthly backups are kept, the first monthly backup of the year is considered the yearly backup. If monthly backups are not kept, the first completed backup of the year is considered the yearly backup.	No retention settings for yearly backups	Kept for the number of years specified for yearly backups in the custom retention settings

Note: If only one backup remains for a device, it will not be deleted by maintenance processes. The last backup for a device is only deleted if you manually delete the device from the Management Console. See Deleting a device or canceling a deletion.

Immutability settings for a device do not typically affect when backups are deleted by maintenance processes. When immutable backups are enabled for a device, the immutability period is the same as the retention setting for daily backups.

However, if the immutability period for a device changes from 30 days to 7 days, backups created when the immutability period was 30 days could be retained longer than backups created after the change. This occurs because immutability settings are applied when each backup is created. When immutability settings are updated in a device policy, the new settings apply only to future backups; existing backups retain the immutability period that was in effect when they were created.