Data retention overview

Connected provides data protection and not long-term archival storage. Therefore, it retains multiple versions of a user's files for only a limited amount of time. In addition, protected files that users delete from their computers are eventually deleted permanently from Connected.

A retention process runs periodically on each user's Connected data to purge older data, which includes expired file shares and collaborations that are no longer active. This process determines which versions of a user's Connected files to keep based on the retention policy that applies. All other versions are permanently removed. Connected has default set of retention values that initially apply to all groups. You can override these values, up to specified limits, with custom retention policies. For more information about retention policies, see Retention policy overview.

Regardless of the retention policy that applies to a user, the data retention process keeps, at a minimum, the most recent version of each active file. This version is a copy of the one currently on the user's device. If this version is marked for deletion in Connected, the retention process retains it for a specific grace period to ensure the user can restore the file if needed. Connected marks files for deletion when a user deletes their local copy or their backup policy is not configured to retain files excluded by policy and either the user or a policy change excludes the file from backup.

Data retention values

Retention policies contain the following data-related retention values:

• Daily versions. Number of calendar days for which to keep the day's last version of a file, not including the day that retention runs. Maximum daily versions: 180.

  If a file was not backed up or synced on a given day, a daily version does not exist. As a result, the number of daily versions available might be less than the value specified. See example.

  Example

  Suppose that you set daily versions to 30. When the retention process runs, it keeps a file's latest version for the past 30 days, not including the day that retention runs. If Connected backs up or syncs a particular file every day, it keeps 30 daily versions of the file. However, if Connected backs up or syncs the file every other day, only 15 daily versions are available and retained.

  The number of daily versions also defines the policy's grace period. This is the minimum number of days that Connected retains files marked for deletion, which gives users a chance to restore deleted files, if necessary.

• Recent versions. Number of versions to retain, starting from the current version at the time that the retention process runs. Any daily versions that fall within this number are also considered a "recent version". Maximum recent versions: 20.

  This value does not limit the overall number of retained versions; Connected retains daily versions for the full number of days specified. See example.

  Example

  Suppose that you set daily versions to 30 and recent versions to 5. When the retention process runs, it keeps the following:

  • Up to the 5 most recent versions, starting with the current day and looking back, at most, the previous 30 calendar days.
  • Up to 30 daily versions, starting with the one from the day before the retention process runs, if one exists.

For more detailed information, see How retention policies affect data retention and Data retention examples.