Data Retention Periods

Understand how long CloudNexus stores your data across all services, configurable retention policies, and compliance guarantees.

Overview

CloudNexus follows a strict data lifecycle management policy designed to balance operational efficiency, security, and regulatory compliance. By default, data is retained according to service-specific intervals unless overridden by customer-configured policies or legal requirements.

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Default vs. Configurable All services ship with secure default retention windows. Enterprise and Professional tier users can customize retention periods via the Console or Terraform provider. Storage costs apply for extended retention.

Service Retention Table

Below outlines the standard retention periods for core CloudNexus infrastructure services.

Service	Data Type	Default Retention	Configurable Range	Notes
Object Storage	Objects & Metadata	Indefinite	1 day - 75 years	Versioning enabled by default. Lifecycle rules recommended.
Managed Databases	Transaction Logs	7 days	1 - 35 days	Required for point-in-time recovery (PITR).
Cloud Logs	Access & System Logs	90 days	7 - 365 days	Hot storage: 30 days. Cold archive: 1+ years.
Snapshots	Block Storage Backups	30 days	7 - 3650 days	Automated daily snapshots roll over automatically.
CDN Cache	Edge Cached Assets	24 hours	1 hr - 365 days	Controlled via Cache-Control headers & API.
Container Registry	Docker Images	Indefinite	Policy-based cleanup	Automated lifecycle rules recommended for cost control.

Compliance & Legal Holds

CloudNexus supports enterprise compliance frameworks including SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, GDPR, and HIPAA. Retention policies automatically align with regional data sovereignty requirements.

GDPR/CCPA Right to Erasure: Request permanent deletion via the Data Governance Console or API. Processing typically completes within 14-30 business days.
Legal Holds: When a legal hold is applied to a tenant, all retention timers are suspended indefinitely until the hold is released. No data is purged during active holds.
Audit Trails: Management plane logs (IAM changes, network policies, billing events) are retained for a minimum of 24 months and cannot be shortened.

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Irreversible Deletion Once the retention period expires and no legal holds are active, data is cryptographically wiped using NIST 800-88 Rev. 1 standards. Recovery is not possible after this threshold.

Managing Retention Settings

Console Configuration

Navigate to Organization Settings > Data Lifecycle > Retention Policies to adjust intervals per project or globally. Changes take effect within 6 hours.

Terraform & API

Retention periods can be declared as code using the cloudnexus_retention_policy resource. Example:

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resource "cloudnexus_retention_policy" "logs" {
  resource_type = "cloud_logs"
  project_id    = "proj_8x92k"
  retention_days = 180
  tier_after_days = 30
}
                            

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I export data before it expires? ▼

Yes. You can trigger bulk exports via the Console or use the Data Transfer API. Scheduled exports are recommended for large datasets nearing retention thresholds.

Does extending retention increase costs? ▼

Yes. Extended retention moves data to lower-cost storage tiers after the hot storage period. Storage pricing applies proportionally to the extended duration.

What happens to snapshots if I delete the parent instance? ▼

Snapshots become independent resources. Their retention timer continues from the original creation date. They can be reassigned or deleted manually.

How are compliance audits handled for retained data? ▼

CloudNexus provides immutable audit logs and data lineage reports. You can request compliance packages directly through the Enterprise Support portal.