Selective Data Purge from CloudSoda Storage

CloudSoda enables data purging through its sync function, which removes files and objects from directories based on metadata attributes such as last access time, modification date, size, creation date, etc.

Overview

To purge data, use an empty directory and a sync job to create a purge policy or a purge job. This creates a scenario where "null" is synced over a dataset, as specified by the policy rules.

• For more information on creating a policy, see Creating a New Policy.
• For more information on defining rules and creating quick transfers, see Managing Quick Transfers.
  
  NOTE: Data purge is a dangerous operation and causes the removal of files or objects from storage as defined by the rules of a purge policy or purge job. If the operation is performed incorrectly, data loss can occur.
  

1. Create an empty directory on your selected storage. We recommend using a directory located on the same storage or attached to the same agent.
   
   
2. Create a sync job or sync policy with rules defining the files or objects to be deleted. We strongly recommend using a Dry Run operation to model the number of files to be removed and related storage capacity to be recovered by running the sync job or sync policy.
   
   Example 1: This policy removes files from the target directory that are larger than 100MB with a filename containing the "delete" string.
   
   
   
   Example 2: This policy removes data from the target directory that has not been accessed in the last 30 days. 
   
   
   
   
3. Run the sync job or sync policy that was just created.
   
   NOTE: After files and objects are removed from the target, the directory structure still exists with storage capacity recovered based on the amount of data that was removed.