Question about Immutable Storage and Retention

[fe333]

Hello,

i tested around with immutable storgae on Backblaze.
It works fine.

I created a backup with 3 restore points (foreever-incremental).
Veeam send the data instantly to Backblaze.

After that i changed the number to one retention point.

Now i have one retention point on local NAS (correct),
but on Backblaze there is also only one retention point left.

With immutable feature enabled there should be more than one?!
Where are my old retention points on BB with immutable flag?

Where is my mistake?

Regards.
Frederik

[Gostev]

Hello!

The configuration database has been updated to remove references to restore points outside of your retention policy. This was done when the corresponding points were deleted from local NAS, which is why now you can only see the restore points according to your current retention policy.

However, the immutable data for copies of those restore points is still present in Backblaze, and these backups can be imported if necessary.

Thanks!

[fe333]

But this is only possible with the help of veeam support?

[Gostev]

No, you can do it yourself, using the same process as if you would lose your entire on-prem Veeam deployment completely, and not just some older backups.

[fe333]

I tried with a new veeam installation and add the bb s3 account and import the backups. But there is only 1 restore point left.

[Gostev]

That is expected. You are seeing "known" restore points which are present in the current backup metadata stored in object storage, which in turn reflects your current retention policy. This metadata no longer includes restore point outside of your retention policy, even if their immutable data is still present in object storage.

To see the restore points outside of your retention policy, you need to use Sync-VBRSOBREntityState cmdlet to rollback your SOBR to the point in time before you made a change to your retention policy (there's an example). You can use Get-VBRCapacityTierSyncInterval cmdlet to get all checkpoints available for synchronization in object storage.

[mcz]

Anton,

are there any plans to show ALL restore points from the object storage even if they're outside of the retention? Maybe there was an option via checkbox to display all of them instead of only the 'current' ones. My idea is that if you're having those valid restore points on the object storage and you pay for them (either money or space), then why not make them available in case you need them? Having data which is completely useless (because you can't restore) does not make sense to me at all. Of course, there's powershell, but is it really that useful?

Thanks!

[veremin]

This data is not complete useless, it's the opposite - you can restore from it, if need arises. But it does not do so very often - rarely is somebody in need to restore from already obsolete backups. And we do not build UI over corner cases, we have PowerShell for that.

Also, it would be confusing experience to see the restore points that are outside the retention you specified. If you do not trust me, check this thread .

Thanks!

[Gostev]

My idea is that if you're having those valid restore points on the object storage and you pay for them (either money or space), then why not make them available in case you need them?

You can easily do that by increasing your retention policy and making it match or exceed your immutability setting. In general, you can only end up in the discussed situation due to the incorrect product configuration when your retention policy is shorter than your immutability window. But such a setup makes absolutely no sense as of course those two values must be coordinated: immutability period should never be longer than your retention policy.

Having it the other way around can only be caused by a backup admin making a mistake, or perhaps by someone trying to delete all older backups with malicious intentions through reducing the current retention policy to a minimal value. Which is exactly what OP did by the way.