Streamline the process of long-term data retention

Government, industry, and business regulations sometimes require the collection and retention of data over extended periods of time. IBM Spectrum Protect Version 8.1.7 introduces new features that streamline the process of long-term data retention. Data that is backed up for operational recovery purposes can be retained to meet long-term data retention requirements without having to store multiple copies of the data on the server.

With new features in the Operations Center and new administrative commands, you can create point-in-time collections of active client backup data and specify how long you want to retain the data. You can use either the Operations Center or the new DEFINE RETRULE command to define policies, called retention rules, for long-term data retention on the server.

When a set of data is collected for retention purposes, the data is retained in a new entity called a retention set. You can create a one-time retention set or use a retention rule to specify a schedule for the regular creation of a retention set. To manage retention sets, you can use new features on the Operations Center or administrative commands, such as QUERY RETSET and UPDATE RETSET.