Retention Policies
How JetBackup retention works: fixed vs time-based retention, recommended settings for different server sizes, and how to avoid filling your backup storage.
Retention policies control how many backup copies JetBackup keeps before automatically deleting the oldest ones. Setting retention correctly balances restore coverage with storage costs.
Fixed retention
Keep exactly N copies of each backup. When a new backup completes and you are over the limit, the oldest backup is deleted.
Example: Daily backup with retention of 7 → you always have exactly 7 restore points, one per day going back one week.
Time-based retention
Keep backups newer than N days. Older backups are automatically deleted.
Example: Time-based retention of 30 days → restore points available for the past month. Useful for compliance scenarios with defined data retention requirements.
Setting retention on a backup job
When creating or editing a backup job:
- JetBackup → Backup Jobs → Edit (or create new)
- Scroll to the Retention section
- Select Fixed or Time-based
- Set the value
- Save
Recommended retention settings
Small server (1-10 accounts)
| Job | Frequency | Retention | Storage estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily | Every day | 14 copies | ~2-4 GB per account |
| Weekly | Every Sunday | 8 copies | |
| Monthly | 1st of month | 6 copies |
Medium server (10-50 accounts)
| Job | Frequency | Retention | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily | Every day | 7 copies | Balances coverage vs storage |
| Weekly | Every Sunday | 4 copies | |
| Monthly | 1st of month | 3 copies |
Large server (50+ accounts)
| Job | Frequency | Retention | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily | Every day | 3 copies | Storage fills quickly at scale |
| Weekly | Every Sunday | 4 copies | |
| Monthly | 1st of month | 2 copies |
How retention interacts with storage
Storage used = (average account size) × (number of accounts) × (total backup copies across all jobs)
For example: 10 accounts × 2 GB average × (7 daily + 4 weekly + 3 monthly = 14 copies) = ~280 GB.
JetBackup uses incremental backups where possible, which significantly reduces storage: only changed files are stored after the first full backup.
Viewing what will be deleted
Before changing retention, review what JetBackup currently has under Destinations → Usage → Browse. This shows all stored backups with their size and date, so you can see exactly what a retention change would remove.