Backups and data retention
Data retention management is a cornerstone of Connhex, since it is a key element to its GDPR Compliance Strategy.
Default backup strategy
The default backup strategy involves a double-backup scheme:
- a complete backup on a weekly basis
- an incremental backup on a daily basis
This allows Connhex to strike a balance between minimizing the required storage and ensuring backups can be restored quickly if necessary. The frequency and retention are completely customizable on a per-cluster basis, with the defaults being specified below.
| Database cluster | Default complete backup frequency | Default incremental backup frequency | Default backup retention [days] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auth | weekly | daily | 31 |
| Data | weekly | daily | 31 |
| Messages | weekly | daily | 7 |
| App | weekly | daily | 31 |
The retention policy for backups is paused in case of any error: with the default configuration, for example, there will always be at least one backup for the messages cluster.
Archive service integration
If your Connhex plan includes remote WAL backups or the integration with archive services, once a backup reaches its retention deadline it is transferred remotely.
There's an additional configurable retention period to specify how long these should be retained in cold storage - defaulting to 1 year.
Data retention controller
The data retention controller is the service responsible for ensuring data isn't kept for longer than needed. Besides being useful in complying with Art.3 of the GDPR regulation (Right to erasure, a.k.a. Right to be forgotten), it minimizes the amount of data stored at any moment.
It consists of a periodical job, with configurable frequency, responsible for deduplicating params and enforcing a limited message retention - defaulting to 1 year.