Seamless Data Migration with Custom Upload Timestamps

Migrating data to the cloud? Ensuring that original timestamps remain intact through a cloud migration can be a critical factor for successful data management at scale. Losing these timestamps can lead to operational challenges that hinder your ability to track data effectively, set proper lifecycle rules, create custom events, and more.

Backblaze B2 Cloud Storage now offers the Custom Upload Timestamps feature to help you manage your data. Today, I’m sharing details on the new feature, benefits, and how to enable it.

What are Custom Upload Timestamps?

The Custom Upload Timestamps feature is designed specifically to retain the original timestamps of your files during a migration. It is especially beneficial for users who rely on lifecycle rules to dictate file deletion or archiving based on age for compliance, to track file age manually, or maintain historical context of file.

Imagine this scenario: You have a critical file on another cloud storage provider, governed by a lifecycle rule that deletes it after 1,000 days. If you move the file to Backblaze B2 on day 999, the timestamp would be overwritten and you’d have to restart that lifecycle from day one. However, with this new feature, the original timestamp remains intact, and the file will still get deleted on day 1,000, just as planned. This capability not only simplifies the migration process, but also ensures continuity in your data retention policies, keeping your storage costs in line with expectations.

Benefits of Custom Upload Timestamps

Lifecycle rules play a crucial role in managing data retention, particularly when migrating large datasets. Losing the original timestamps means you’d have to manually reconfigure your rules or wait much longer for lifecycle events to take effect. The benefits of retaining original timestamps extend beyond just lifecycle rules.

Here is why this feature is essential:

1. Operational efficiency: Knowing the original timestamp of files allows for better organization and tracking. This is vital for businesses that rely on historical data to inform decisions or manage projects. When timestamps reset, it can lead to confusion and disarray in managing files. You may find yourself dealing with files that should have been deleted or archived but aren’t because of the reset timeline.
2. Compliance: For organizations that must adhere to regulatory standards for data retention, preserving timestamps can help meet legal requirements. It provides a clear audit trail and evidence of when files were created or modified.
3. Decreased workload: Manually tracking and reconfiguring lifecycle rules consumes valuable time and resources. By retaining the original timestamps, you eliminate unnecessary workloads.
4. File age tracking: Whether you’re managing backups, archival processes, or simple organizational tasks, knowing the age of a file can inform your decisions regarding when to review or delete files.
5. Historical context: For projects that span long periods, retaining timestamps helps maintain the context of data. This can be critical for collaborative efforts or projects that require consistent documentation.

Ultimately, the custom upload timestamps feature supports greater data portability, making it easier to move and manage large datasets. It ensures that migration to B2 Cloud Storage is as seamless as possible—without the need to reset or alter your data management policies. 

Ready to get started?

The Custom Upload Timestamps feature is enabled by default for all B2 Cloud Storage customers. To utilize this feature, you need to include the X-Bz-Custom-Upload-Timestamp parameter when calling the b2_upload_file API. This simple addition allows you to retain the original timestamp of your file, thereby preserving its lifecycle state without interruptions and ensuring that your data remains organized and easy to track.

By retaining the original timestamps, Backblaze B2 helps increase the ease and granularity with which you can manage your data, especially for organizations migrating large volumes of data. You can transition your data while maintaining control over important metadata like the original timestamp, streamlining your operations, improving overall efficiency, and avoiding the stress of potential compliance issues.

What next?

To make the most of the Custom Upload Timestamp feature, consider the following actionable steps:

1. Review your migration workflow. Before starting the migration, ensure that your processes include the X-Bz-Custom-Upload-Timestamp parameter in your upload scripts or APIs. This will help prevent any disruption in tracking important metadata.
2. Test the feature. Conduct a pilot migration with a small number of files. This will allow you to confirm that the timestamps are retained correctly. Monitor the behavior of your data tracking after this test migration to ensure everything operates as expected.
3. Verify lifecycle rules. Once you complete the migration, take the time to check that your lifecycle policies continue to function as intended on B2 Cloud Storage. This verification step is crucial to avoid unexpected data retention issues.
4. Engage with Support. If you have any questions or encounter challenges, don’t hesitate to reach out to our Support team. We’re here to help you make the most of B2 Cloud Storage.

For more details, visit our API documentation to ensure you’re ready for a smooth migration. By leveraging the Custom Upload Timestamps feature, you can simplify your data management processes.