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Backup and Restoration of Email Folders and Other User Files

Important: UW Technology backups are intended only for recovery in case of accident or disaster and do not meet records retention requirements.

When and Why Email Folders and Other User Files Are Backed Up

UW Technology runs a program each night that makes backup copies of email folders and other user files on the Uniform Access computers. The purpose of the backups which copy the data from disk to tape is to give the system administrator a means to restore files should some type of hardware crash or system failure occur.

Backup copies of email folders and other files are kept for a specified period of time as described below. If a user needs to restore files he has removed by mistake, he can contact the UW Technology Service Center at help@u.washington.edu or 206.221.5000.

Length of Time Files Are Kept on Backup Tapes

Email and Information Servers (Dante, Homer, Mead):
  • Email inboxes and email folders - one week
  • Other user files - one year
  • Web page directories - one year
Checkout Space
Because checkout space is intended for temporary use, no backups are done on the checkout directories. It is the responsibility of checkout space users to keep copies of their files.

Possible Time Increments for Restoring Lost Files

One week cycle:
Email inboxes and email folders cannot be recovered once a week has past since the time they were deleted or otherwise destroyed. Within the one week time frame, the folder/file should be restorable to within one day of the specified time.
One year cycle:
  • If a file is needed as of a time less than 7 days ago, the restored file should be no more than one day older than the specified time.
  • If a file is needed as of a time less than 14 days ago, the restored file should be no more than 3 days older than the specified time.
  • If a file is needed as of a time less than a month ago, the restored file should be no more than 7 days older than the specified time.
  • If a file is needed as of a time less than 2 months ago, the restored file should be no more than 30 days older than the specified time.
  • If a file is needed as of a time less than one year ago, the restored file should be no more than 90 days older than the specified time.

These times are approximate.