Overview
When users are deactivated, their backup archives go into cold storage where they continue to consume CrashPlan user subscriptions until they expire and are destroyed. To free up subscriptions before expiration, purge archives from cold storage.
Free up subscriptions by purging cold storage
Archives associated with deactivated users and devices remain in cold storage for a retention period that varies depending on your deployment model. During that time, the archives continue to consume user subscriptions. An administrator can free up subscriptions by purging archives from cold storage. Once a user's archives are purged, the associated subscription becomes available for other users within 24 hours.
Purged data is irrecoverable.
Data cannot be recovered from a purged backup archive.
The lifecycle of CrashPlan subscriptions and archives
- Activation: A user subscription activates when a CrashPlan app connects to a CrashPlan cloud instance and backs up data. Sign in to the CrashPlan console, and select Subscriptions to view the number of available subscriptions.
- Deactivation: Administrators cut users off from the CrashPlan platform by deactivating them. Those users can no longer back up or retrieve data.
- Cold storage: Backup archives from deactivated users go into cold storage. Archives in cold storage continue to consume user subscriptions.
- Reactivation: So long as archives remain in cold storage, administrators can reactivate their users and reconnect users with backup archives.
- Purging: Purging archives from cold storage frees the associated subscriptions for use by other users. It also destroys the archives. No one can recover purged archives.
- Expiration: If archives are not purged, they become expired archives after the cold storage retention period. Expired archives do not consume user subscriptions. The associated subscriptions become available for use by other users and devices.
- Reactivation: An expired archive is not yet lost. It can be reactivated and re-associated with a user and device.
- Destruction: After the expired archive retention period, expired archives are destroyed and cannot be recovered. The length of the expired archive retention period varies depending on your deployment model.