What it means
Lifecycle policies automatically transition, retain, archive, or delete data based on age, state, or business rules. They should reflect legal, operational, recovery, and security requirements.
Why it matters
Data that remains indefinitely in expensive or broadly accessible storage increases cost, exposure, and discovery complexity.
Practical focus
- Classify data and define retention before automating transitions
- Test restore time and retrieval cost
- Protect lifecycle policy changes with review and logging
Common mistakes
- Selecting the lowest-cost tier without recovery testing
- Deleting versions that support investigation or recovery
- Using age alone as a retention decision
Certification relevance
This subject appears in or supports the following certification bodies of knowledge: