Vaultastic Lifecycle Management
Last Modified on 28/04/2026 2:30 pm IST
Overview
Vaultastic lifecycle management automatically moves archived data across storage tiers based on defined policies. This ensures optimal storage use, consistent performance, and the enforcement of governance controls.
Data is organized into the following storage tiers:
- Active Store – high-performance storage for recent and frequently accessed data
- Open Store – cost-optimized storage for aging but still searchable data
- Deep Store – low-cost archival storage for long-term retention
Lifecycle policies control how and when data transitions between these tiers.
Lifecycle Architecture
Vaultastic supports automated lifecycle-based movement of archived data between Active, Open, and Deep Store.
Data movement is policy-driven and typically based on data age.
Supported transitions:
Active Store → Open Store
Active Store → Deep Store
Lifecycle management ensures:
Frequently accessed data remains in high-performance storage
Aging data moves to lower-cost archival tiers
Retention policies remain enforced
Data integrity and auditability are preserved
Lifecycle processing runs in the background and moves eligible data based on configured policies.
Vaultastic Storage Lifecycle Architecture
Vaultastic uses a tiered archival architecture that aligns storage cost with data access frequency.
| Data Age | Example Duration (*) | Recommended Storage Tier |
|---|
| Recent | 0-90 days | Active Store |
| Aging | 90-365 days | Open Store |
| Historical | >365 days | Deep Store |
(*) Durations are configurable through lifecycle policies.
Design outcomes
This architecture ensures:
- Consistent search performance for recent data
- Optimized storage cost for older data
- Support for long-term retention requirements
- Alignment with compliance and audit needs
Lifecycle movement is asynchronous and may take time to complete depending on data volume.
The lifecycle mechanism automatically moves older data out of the Active Store, ensuring high-performance storage remains optimized for current operational workloads.
Lifecycle Movement Models
Vaultastic supports two models for automatically organizing archived data in Open Store or Deep Store.
Vault-Based Movement
In this model:
Characteristics:
Simplifies the restoration of individual user mailboxes
Suitable when mailbox-level restoration is common
Faster and more predictable restore operations
Does not retain Active Store deduplication advantages
Recommended usage
Use Vault-Based Movement when:
- Individual mailbox restores are frequent
- Investigations are user-specific
- Restore speed is a priority
Domain-Based Movement
In this model:
Characteristics:
Preserves deduplication advantages
Improves storage efficiency
Suitable for domain-wide search or investigation scenarios
May require additional filtering during user-level restore
Recommended usage
Use Domain-Based Movement when:
- Storage optimization is a priority
- Large-scale compliance searches are common
- Domain-level investigations are frequent
Model Selection Guidance
| Requirement | Recommended Model |
|---|
| Frequent mailbox-level restore | Vault-Based |
| Domain-wide investigation | Domain-Based |
| Storage cost optimization | Domain-Based |
| Faster restore performance | Vault-Based |
Governance Controls During Lifecycle Movement
Vaultastic enforces governance controls throughout the lifecycle.
Movement process
- Data is copied to the destination storage tier
- Integrity checks are performed
- Retention and legal hold policies are validated
- Audit logs are recorded
- Source data is deleted only after successful verification
Safeguards
- Retention policies remain enforced
- Legal holds are preserved during movement
- All lifecycle actions are audited
- Integrity checks ensure data consistency
If validation fails, data remains in the source tier and the movement is retried. No data is deleted until successful verification is complete.
Restoring Archived Data
Data stored in Open Store or Deep Store can be restored when required.
Restoration can be performed by authorized administrators with appropriate permissions.
Common restoration workflows
- Restoring data to Active Store for eDiscovery
- Copying data into a temporary vault for investigation
- Removing temporary data after investigation completion
Restoration process
- Select the data (vault, domain, or date range)
- Choose restore destination (Active Store or temporary vault)
- Initiate restore job
- Monitor job status until completion
Restored data becomes available for search after the restore process completes.
Deep Store Restoration
Deep Store is designed for long-term archival and has higher retrieval latency.
Expected behavior
- Restoration typically takes 24–48 hours
- Restore time depends on data volume and the storage backend
- Restored data remains accessible for approximately 7 days
After this period, data automatically returns to Deep Store.
Lifecycle Policy Configuration
Lifecycle behavior is controlled through configurable policies.
Policy parameters include
- Data age thresholds for tier transitions
- Selection of movement model (Vault-based or Domain-based)
- Scope (domain-level or vault-level, if supported)
Policies determine when data becomes eligible for movement and which storage tier it is moved to.
Lifecycle Execution Model
Lifecycle movement runs in the background.
- Data is evaluated periodically based on policy criteria
- Eligible data is queued for movement
- Movement is processed asynchronously
There may be a delay between data becoming eligible and actual movement.
Monitoring and Visibility
Administrators can monitor lifecycle activity through:
- audit logs for lifecycle actions
- system logs for movement and restore operations
Monitoring helps track:
- successful data movement
- failed or retried operations
- restore job status
Limits and Considerations
- Lifecycle movement is not instantaneous
- restore time increases for deeper storage tiers
- domain-based movement may increase restore complexity for individual users
- The temporary restore access duration is limited
Strategic Benefits
Vaultastic lifecycle management provides the following operational benefits:
- Controlled Active Store usage and predictable performance
- Reduced storage cost through automated tiering
- Simplified long-term data retention
- Consistent enforcement of governance and compliance policies
- Reduced manual effort in managing archived data
