Retention types for storage lifecycle policy operations
The Retention type for an operation in a storage lifecycle policy determines how long the data is kept on that storage media.
A Retention type is selected for each type of operation. Select from the following Retention types:
Table: Operation and retention type configurations describes which retention types are valid selections for the various operations.
Table: Operation and retention type configurations
Retention type | Backup operation | Snapshot operation | Replication operation | Backup From Snapshot operation | Duplication operation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fixed | Valid | Valid | Valid | Valid | Valid |
Expire after copy | Valid | Valid | Valid | Valid | Valid |
Maximum Snapshot limit | Invalid | Valid; SLP honors the policy setting. | Invalid | Invalid | Invalid |
Mirror | Invalid | Invalid | Valid for snapshot storage only | Invalid | Valid for snapshot storage only |
Target retention | Invalid | Invalid | Valid if the first operation in the SLP is an Import and if the storage is of the backup type. | Invalid | Valid if the first operation in the SLP is an Import. |
Capacity managed | Valid; AdvancedDisk default; set on the storage server. | Invalid | Invalid | Invalid | Valid; AdvancedDisk default; set on the storage server. |
Note:
Retention is not associated with the Index From Snapshot operation because the operation does not create any copy.
The Operation selections are the instructions for the SLP. An operation can be configured for the following purposes:
It is not recommended to allow capacity-managed images and fixed-retention images to be written to the same volume in a disk storage unit. The volume may fill with fixed-retention images and not allow the space management logic to operate as expected.
Keep in mind the following points when configuring SLP operations or selecting the storage location for a policy:
All SLPs that write to a volume in a disk storage unit should write images of the same retention type: fixed or capacity-managed.
Do not write images both to a volume in a disk storage unit within an SLP and to the same volume (by the storage unit) directly from a policy.
Mark all disk storage units that are used with SLPs as On demand only.
Check any storage unit groups to make sure that fixed and capacity-managed images cannot be written to the same volume in a disk storage unit.