Options to move and archive a large backup chain for possible future subpoena

[joebranca]

We are in a project to redeploy our Windows repositories as Linux, to begin leveraging immutable backups and hardened repositories per recommended practices.

The current monkey wrench is on one of the Windows repos we have a 40TB+ backup chain that needs to be preserved long term (years) in case of legal subpoena down the road, well beyond any of our normal retention policies. So we need to get that data somewhere other than our production repositories we are migrating to Linux, because of the amount of space it takes and lower likelihood of needing restores.

We have a spare storage server with enough capacity which we can deploy as another repository just for housing this data. It is currently a Linux server and if at all possible I'd like to keep it that way.

1. With a few dozen restore points that need to be kept, would Export not be a viable option since it would have to be done once per restore point and essentially result in a few dozen full size restore points? Additionally that would technically repackage the backup data and "modify" it from its original state. Although if data were recovered it would be unchanged from the state of the VM it backed up, so if anyone knows whether that would still abide by standard subpoena requirements, i.e. as long as the recoverd data is the exact state of the VM's data from the time of its backup?

2. If I add the Linux server as a repository and make the target Linux repo and the source Windows repo both extents in a SOBR, it looks like there is no option to selectively evacuate data from a repo, that option would be all or nothing?

3. Since this backup chain in question is much older than any other backups on the source Windows repo, would it be best to setup the Linux server as a Capacity Tier extent and apply a policy to the source Windows VM to move data older than say 2 months to the Capacity Tier?

4. I guess my last resort option is rebuilding the Linux server as Windows, and do the painful manual data move with Windows Explorer through an RDP session or something like that.

Best method, or anything else I'm missing?

[Mildur]

that needs to be preserved long term (years) in case of legal subpoena down the road, well beyond any of our normal retention policies.

I don‘t recommend disc as a medium for long time retention. Definitely not if you need it for legal purposes.
If you need it longer that 3-4 years, go with Tape. It’s far more stable. Or you need to move the data at least every few years to new storage to make sure that the discs are not dying and your restore points are getting corrupted.

On VeeamOn, veeam announced they are working on a new feature for storage management after backups are done. We have to see, if your features request is covered with the new possibilities when it is released.