Delete Considerations
Creation Date: June 20, 2011
Revision Date: June 20, 2011
Product: DS‑Client
Summary
This article describes some advanced considerations regarding delete activities. The basic form of delete simply removes a generation from online storage. However, when the delete is combined with some of the other features, there are some more considerations that need to be taken into account.
Basic Delete Methods
Remove a backup set
This deletes all online data of a backup set and also removes the backup set itself.
Selective Delete
This is the simplest delete method. You browse backup sets with the Delete Wizard and pick the specific file(s) to delete.
Assisted Delete
This is a faster method to remove obsolete data from multiple backup sets. It only selects backup data that was removed from the backup source and was detected by DS-Client.
Generation recycling (Passive Delete)
All backup items must have a maximum number of online generations. For backup data that does not change often, you may have only 1 generation online even after several backups. However, data that changes often will have multiple generations.
When the maximum number of generations for a particular file is reached, the oldest generation gets overwritten after the next backup.
• To prevent loss of these old generations, configure the backup set with the BLM (Infinite Generations) option, which will send a copy of each overwritten generation to BLM Archiver (if this is available from your service provider).
Delete because of Retention
Any data that is not ‘retained’ when a Retention Rule is enforced will be deleted.
Additional Options that can affect deletes and/or delete behavior
Move to BLM (Archiving)
If BLM Archiving is available, every delete situation will have the Move to BLM option.
• To configure passive deletes (generation recycling), in the backup set click, Properties > Options: BLM (Infinite Generations).
If the backup set is configured with the BLM (Infinite Generations) option, the Move to BLM is always selected. If DS-System cannot move the deleted data to BLM, the delete will fail.
DS-System Delete Lock (from service provider)
If your service provider has applied a Delete Lock to your customer account or to this specific DS-Client, the following will occur:
• You will see a warning message in the Activity Log when a delete activity is performed.
• If possible, DS-System will move the deleted data to BLM.
• The delete will fail if DS-System cannot move the deleted data to BLM. If the delete was a passive delete (e.g. generation recycling), the maximum generation configuration will be overruled and the surplus generations will accumulate online.
BLM Delete Lock (from service provider)
NOTE: BLM is only accessible to end-users via a DS-NOC web site.
If your service provider has applied a Delete Lock to your customer account or to this specific DS-Client on the BLM Archiver, the following will occur:
• You will not be able to Confirm Destruction of any Destruction Requests.
• You will see an error in the BLM Activity Log when a Data Destruction Confirmation activity is performed.
Deleting a VMware VADP backup set with Local DS-VDR enabled
Before deleting a VMware VADP backup set with the Local DS-VDR option enabled, you must ensure that the DS-Client is connected to its Local DS-VDR Tool. For more information, see
“Configuring the Local DS-VDR Tool”.