Nebula Backup and Backup Restore Policies
UW policies
Nebula policies
Nebula backup and restore practices
Nebula file retention policy
Defining the backup and backup retention policies is somewhat complex, because there are both technical and policy considerations. Nebula handles the technical side, through such services as running backup software, storing backup tapes, and providing file restores. However, each department is responsible for ensuring compliance with the appropriate University of Washington policies regarding file retention.
UW Policies
The UW Records Management Services department helps University offices comply with state and federal laws relating to the preservation and destruction of records, both paper and electronic. Their site has policies relating to various types of information, and how long these must be retained. The management of University records is independent of whatever backup system is in place.
For example, email for Nebula clients is stored on the Deskmail servers, and is on a 7-day backup system: any email deleted within the last 7 days can be recovered; any email deleted more than 7 days ago cannot. And, the 7-day backup is configurable by each user, so it may or may not be enabled for any individual.
But, the policy on retaining emails, states that "Email is managed by its content, not its format." These policies may require that email with certain subject material be kept for far longer than 7 days. It is each department's responsibility to adhere to the Records Management guidelines.
Nebula Policies
The Nebula tape backup system is designed for disaster-recovery. In case of a server failure, or an omygosh moment ("I can't believe I deleted the whoooole thing"), files can be restored to where they were just before the disaster, assuming they exist on a backup tape. It is not designed to serve as an archive for older and inactive files. You'll find more information on the Nebula File Storage Policy page.
Nebula Backup and Restore Practices
Files on the Nebula servers, accessed via the H: and I: drives, are backed up nightly for two weeks. One nightly backup per week is saved for a quarter. One backup per quarter is saved for one year. To exist on a backup tape, the file must be available for the nightly backup. A file created and deleted on the same day won't be on the backup tapes.
About 10 days worth of backup files are available in the snapshots folders Any files not available in these folders can be requested.
Nebula File Retention Policy
Files on the H: and I: drives
Files in H: and I:\homedir are the same. They will be deleted approximately 210 days after a user's account is disabled, and the files are completely gone from tape within a year. Existing tapes are destroyed after 1 year. For example, all tapes from Jan 1, 2006 and before will have been destroyed by mid Jan 2007.
Files in I:\groups and other areas of I: will stick around after a user leaves. Some areas of I: are controlled by groups other than Nebula, and would have to be contacted directly for details on their policies. For those I: drive files managed by Nebula, the retention policy is the same as for H: -- tapes are destroyed after one year. Nebula does not provide an archiving service for electronic data. Data with retention requirements has to be handled per the Records Office's policy (see above).
Oracle Calendar Files
Oracle Calendar data is retained for 24 months. Any data older than 24 months is purged, on a monthly basis. If you need to archive or export Oracle Calendar data, you can follow the archiving process.
Please contact the Records Management Services folks at urc@u.washington.edu. They will help you establish policies and procedures to ensure that your department adheres to the UW's policy on records retention.
If there are any questions about this policy, please contact Nebula Support.
