Snapshot-based and item-level retention clarify

[adam900331]

Hy!

I am confused about the drifference between the snapshot-based and item-level retention. Can someone explain the difference? (I have already read the description of the Veeam document.)

Thanks.

[Mildur]

Hi Adam

Retention: 1 year

Snapshot--> All items in an the protected object (SharePoint Site, Teams, Mailbox, Archive, OneDrive) will be backed up and the restore point is kept for 1 year. You will be able to restore the object in the same state as it was from your backup.

Item Level --> Items (such as files, folders, mails, ...) within the specified retention period will be protected. If you take a backup today, Items/Item versions between "June 10, 2024" and "June 10, 2025" will be backed up. Items older than "June 10, 2024" will not be protected and cannot be restored. The retention process will remove outdated items from the repository.

If you want to be able to restore Mailboxes, OneDrive, SharePoint Sites or Teams with all historical data, then you must use Snapshot based retention. Please also note, if you ever want to migrate your backups to our VDC service for M365, Snapshot based retention is a requirement.

Best,
Fabian

[adam900331]

Hy Fabian,

Thanks. I would be grateful if we clraify my understanding. When I use item-level retntion, will the Veeam bacing up from M365 the actual state of the item? So the items will contain olny one state opposite to the snapshot based retention? In my understanding the snapshot based retention will store in backup repository all of the state of the item (like e-mail) when modified in M365. Is it correct?

Thanks.

[Mildur]

Item-level retention will protect "versions of items" which are within the specified retention period.

Lets do a example:
Your retention is 7 days and this SharePoint document has 5 versions.
- v5: June 10th
- v4: June 5th
- v3: May 28th
- v2: May 15th
- v1: May 1st

The backup job will protect Version 4 and Version 5, because both versions are within the 7 days retention. Version 1 - 3 are older and not backed up.

In my understanding the snapshot based retention will store in backup repository all of the state of the item (like e-mail) when modified in M365. Is it correct?

Correct, snapshot retention will protect all 5 versions of my SharePoint example.

Best,
Fabian

[adam900331]

Thanks, now its clear for me.