Backups and restores

This page explains what is backed up, for how long, and how to ask for a restore. The formal procedure is SOP-IT-002 (current version v2).

What is kept, and for how long

Backup Kept for
Daily backups 35 days
Weekly full backups 8 weeks
Monthly archives 12 months

A second copy is made in another US region within 24 hours. Copies stay in US regions only, which also keeps us within the data residency rule for Orion Energy; see Orion Energy.

What the old version said

The first version of the procedure (v1) kept daily backups for only 14 days, weekly backups for 4 weeks and monthly archives for 6 months. It was replaced by v2. If you find an old document that says 14 days, it is out of date.

What is and is not backed up

  • Backed up: shared storage, project repositories and company systems.
  • Not backed up: the local disk of your laptop. Keep work on shared storage; see Laptop setup.

How to ask for a restore

  1. Raise a request on the service desk portal, or ask the service desk (Bob Kessler).
  2. Give the file or folder name, where it lived, and the date it was last good.
  3. A restore from the last 35 days comes from the daily backups. Older requests are served from the weekly or monthly copies when they exist.

Restore tests

A restore test is carried out every quarter, and the results go to the CTO within 5 business days. If two tests in a row fail, the problem is raised as a P2 incident; see Report an incident.

Owner: Liam O'Connor - Last updated: 2026-09-10