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Files on user filesystems are backed up to tape mainly so they can be restored in case of a disk failure, accidental deletion,
or intentional deletion by a hacker. You should not rely on the backup system to recover your files after you intentionally
delete them (although in most cases the backup system should be able to recover them), rather you should put your files
on your own backup tape that you keep. Filesystems not listed in the user filesystems list are NOT backed up.
The user filesystems are completely backed up to tape once a quarter, usually on the first of January, April, July, and
October. Changes made after this full back up are backed up daily to a different set of tapes. The full (quarterly) backup
tapes will be kept around permanently, but it is difficult to restore files from backup tapes older than 6 months. The
incremental tapes are recycled after 3 months. This is one reason why you should not rely on the backup system to recover
your files since if your files were created after the last full backup and you waited over a quarter to restore them they
would no longer be stored on any backup tape.
All files and directories on the user filesystems are backed up to tape EXCEPT for the following:
Now say if a disk failure occurs our email folders for example would be lost forever which we don't want. So everyday a
copy of the following directories and files is generated and placed on a different disk drive (which is also never backed up
to tape):
This other disk drive will only keep the last five days worth of copies so should you delete something in one of these
directories you will only have four days to recover it before its lost forever.
This policy went into effect in February 2000. If you have questions and/or suggestions about the backup policy please
talk to Harry or David.
P.S. Thanks to Marc Michelsen for allowing me to use his policy and web page as a model for our policy and web page.