Understanding Retention of Deleted User Data

[StoopidMonkey]

Hi, I want to verify that my understanding of Snaphot-Based Retention is correct when it comes to VBO 365 and deleted user accounts.
Let's say user Tony Stark has these files in his OneDrive account, and the retention period is set for 3 years:
FileA (Revision 1, created 1/1/2019)
FileA (Revision 2, created 1/1/2023)
FileB (Revision 1, created 1/1/2019)
FileC (Revision 1, created 1/1/2021)
FileD (Revision 1, created 1/1/2022)
FileE (Revision 1, created 1/1/2022, deleted 1/2/2022)
FileE (Revision 1, created 1/3/2022, same name as the deleted file but no version history)

1) Assuming Tony is an active user on 5/01/2023, would FileA (Rev1) have been removed from the backup data already since that version is over 3 years old and a newer version took its place?
2) Also assuming Tony is active and stays active, does FileE remain recoverable in the Backup set for a full 3 years? Would the creation of a new FileE mess that up since the names are the same?
3) If Tony's account is deleted on 05/02/2023, what happens? Does the entire account's data get purged immediately since it isn't licensed, does the backup set as it existed on 05/01/2023 remain as-is for 3 years from the time of deletion, or do the files start trickling away based on the timestamp of the latest version, starting immediately with FileB and later FilesC-FileE as they age out, with Tony's account disappearing from the backups altogether 3 years after the newest file ages out?

[Mike Resseler]

Hey,

Just to be clear: my response below comes with the thought that with Revision 1 and 2 you actually mean that those are versions?

1) Not entirely correct. File A still exists and the versions still exist on the OneDrive 4 Business account so even the latest restore point will have that data still visible

2) Yes, but you will need to search FileE in the restore point of the latest backup that it still existed where all restore points created from 1/3/2022 will contain the new FileE

3) No, even with a deleted Tony account, we remain the data as is for the retention (3 years).

Files do not trickle away based on timestamp with snapshot-based retention. Snapshot based retention means (very simply put): the last backup of Tony's data, before he got deleted, all files/ items/ whatever that existed in that account, at the time of backup will remain from that moment on for 3 years.

Hope I explained it well, if not, please let me know

[StoopidMonkey]

Hi Mike,

0) Yes, I did mean versions.
1) Understood, so as long as the main file is not deleted then all the previous versions remain in backup no matter how old they are, correct? If the file IS deleted and the user is still active, is that when specific previous versions are purged based on aging, or does that not even happen with snapshot based backups?

Also, I have a question about how licensing works with the paid version of VBO365. While I was using the free edition I couldn't free up licenses for deleted / unselected users unless I purged that user's data from the VBO backups using PowerShell commands. With the paid version is this still required, i.e. are we forced to maintain licenses for terminated / deleted users if we wish to retain their data?

[Polina]

Hi Chris,

1) There's a nice example provided here: https://helpcenter.veeam.com/docs/vbo36 ... -retention

2) Paid version work in the same way. For users that are not backed up anymore, licenses will stay consumed for 31 days after the last backup, and after that, they will be automatically revoked. If you want to free up a license earlier, you'll need to delete the user's backups.

Thanks!

[StoopidMonkey]

Hi Polina, I don't think that's accurate. I found this thread where it says that the license SHOULD be freed up within 31 days after active backups are disabled without the need to delete the already backed up data. I certainly hope this is the case.

post421560.html?hilit=terminated#p421560

[Polina]

Chris,

Kindly read my message again: The license is revoked automatically after 31 days from the last backup if the user is not backed up anymore, and backups will remain in the repository. To revoke a license earlier than after 31 days, you need to delete the user's data from repositories.

[StoopidMonkey]

Ahhh, I see. Thanks for the clarification!