IFO4
Loading...A backup data set whose retention purpose has expired, whose source workload has been decommissioned, or whose format is no longer restorable, but which continues to incur storage charges. Obsolete backups represent the slow-burn waste of legacy data protection regimes that were not pruned as workloads evolved. The federation requires backup retention to be tied to a regulatory or business retention requirement, with each backup category linked to its retention basis. Backups outside any documented retention basis are reclassified as obsolete and retired under UFMS-001:2.4(c).
A compound of obsolete, from the Latin obsoletus, worn out, and backup, an industrial English term applied to data protection in the late 1960s.
Federation members maintain a backup retention register linking each category to a regulatory or business basis. Quarterly reviews retire backups outside any basis. Cross-region backup duplication is reported under MEV-Annex:3.2 with the recovery time objective justification.
@misc{ifo4_glossary_obsolete_backup,
title = {{Obsolete Backup}},
author = {{IFO4 Federation Editorial Board}},
howpublished = {{IFO4 Federation Glossary, slug \texttt{obsolete-backup}}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://ifo4.org/glossary/obsolete-backup},
note = {Category: Waste; key: ObsoleteBackup}
}Federation members and accredited practitioners may challenge any entry under TGS-002:1.7. Filed challenges are routed to the editorial board, triaged into the revision register, and resolved in writing on the public docket. The slug remains stable through any revision.