Use this form to request that ACS Operations staff attempt to restore from backup
copies any of the following:
Nightly backups begin just after midnight and usually finish before 9:00 AM. In
order for us to be able to restore a file, it must have been present on the system
during at least one of these nightly backup periods.
Please answer each question as precisely as possible, as complete and accurate information
will improve chances that the desired files can be restored without delay.
Please read the following information on file restorations before submitting this
request.
You will receive a confirmation after submitting this form and an email from ACS
Operations when the request has been completed.
Nightly backups begin just after midnight and usually finish before 9:00 AM. In
order for us to be able to restore a file, it must have been present on the system
during at least one of these nightly backup periods.
When are my files backed up?
E-mail inboxes and home directories on ACS, as well as files on the PEOPLE Web site
are backed up nightly. Temporary space (/tmp, /var/tmp, /work/sas) is NOT backed
up.
How long do you keep backup copies of my files?
The most recent backup copy of a file is retained indefinitely. Older versions of
backup files are retained for only a limited period of time.
When will my file be restored?
Restorations are typically completed within 24 hours; weekend requests may take
48 hours. Restorations may take longer if (1) the size of the requested restoration
is unusually large or (2) the information in the restore request is incomplete or
inaccurate.
How do I find my mail once it has been restored?
Once the lost file has been restored, you should be able to see it as a mail folder
within the IMAP mail program you are using. You will see it automatically in Horde
or SilkyMail. However, if you are using a desktop mail program (such as Outlook
or Thunderbird) you might need first to refresh your folder list and/or subscribe
to the "(filename).RESTORE" file once you see it listed. To complete that process,
follow the instructions at
www.bu.edu/pcsc/email/manage/synchronizing.html.
Can you restore any file?
Sorry, we can't! Backups are "snapshots" of the status of your files at the time
of the backup. Files can be restored only if they were on the system at the time
a backup was performed. If you both created and removed a file in between two backups,
no backup copy exists (e.g., if you created a file at 11:00 AM and deleted it at
7:30 PM the same day, no nightly backup had yet run so no backup copy exists).
Could my lost mail be somewhere else?
It may be that your data is not lost, but misplaced or obscured. You may have forgotten
that you renamed a mail folder, or moved messages from one folder to another. Mail
might have been marked for deletion, but not actually purged: in Horde, having clicked
on Hide Deleted will obscure mail messages which actually still exist in the Inbox
or a mail folder. If you used a PC-based mail client configured to use the POP protocol
rather than IMAP, it probably transferred your messages from the mail server down
to the PC you used. Keep in mind that we can restore files from a point in time,
but that changes after that time are not restorable, so striving to locate misplaced
data first is your better option.
What if I don't own the file(s)?
If you don't own the file or have group access, you must have the owner complete
a file restoration request. For security reasons, we cannot restore files that are
not owned by the requester.
