Backup Rotation Policy Implementation
Without a rotation policy, backups either pile up indefinitely (expensive) or get deleted too aggressively (dangerous). We implement structured rotation policies — GFS, custom retention tiers, or compliance-driven schemes — with automated lifecycle management.
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Grandfather-Father-Son (GFS) Scheme
GFS is the standard rotation for most workloads: daily (son) backups retained for 7-14 days, weekly (father) backups retained for 4-8 weeks, monthly (grandfather) backups retained for 12-24 months. The scheme provides recent granularity for operational recovery and long-term coverage for compliance. We implement GFS using native backup tool retention (pgBackRest, Velero, Restic) or S3 lifecycle rules with prefix-based transitions.
Custom Retention Tiers
Not every system fits GFS. Transaction databases might need hourly backups for 48 hours plus daily for 90 days. Audit logs might need yearly backups retained for 7 years. We design custom retention tiers based on your RPO targets, compliance requirements, and storage budget. Each tier maps to a storage class: hot (S3 Standard), warm (S3 IA), cold (Glacier), and archive (Deep Archive).
Automated Lifecycle Management
Rotation is fully automated — no manual pruning or cleanup scripts. We use S3 lifecycle rules, backup tool retention policies, and custom automation (Lambda functions, Kubernetes CronJobs) to enforce rotation across all backup targets. Expiring backups are verified as covered by a newer backup before deletion. Lifecycle events are logged for audit trails. The rotation policy is codified in Terraform — changes go through pull request review.
Cost Modeling and Optimization
We model storage costs across the full retention window before implementation. A 50GB daily PostgreSQL backup with GFS retention and tiered storage costs roughly $25/month on AWS. Without tiering, the same retention costs $180/month. We project costs at 6 and 12 months with growth estimates. The rotation policy is tuned to hit the sweet spot between recovery coverage and storage budget.
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