A policy is a collection of settings that Admin users can create and assign to computers. Policy settings include:
•Agent settings that are used for all backup jobs on a computer. See Policy schedule, hibernation and shutdown options, and Policy execution priority and bandwidth options. Email notification settings are also available in some policies. See Policy email notification settings.
When a policy is assigned to a computer, these settings appear on the computer’s Advanced tab, and cannot be modified. To change the settings, you must unassign the policy from the computer, or edit values in the policy.
•Vault profiles that users can select when adding vault settings for a computer, instead of manually entering vault information and credentials. See Vault profiles for policies.
When adding vault settings for a computer where a policy is assigned, Admin users can select any vault profile from the policy. Regular users can only select policy vault profiles that are assigned to them. When a policy is not assigned to a computer, Admin users can select any vault profile in the site, while regular users can select vault profiles that are assigned to them. See Add vault settings.
•Job settings that can be selected. See Policy compression and log settings and Policy filters for backup jobs.
These settings are not applied automatically to jobs. When creating, editing or scheduling a backup job on a computer where a policy is assigned, users can select these policy settings or select other values.
•Retention types that users can select when scheduling or running a job. Retention types specify the number of days a backup is kept on the vault, how many copies of a backup are stored online, and how long backup data is stored offline. See Policy retention types.
When scheduling or running a job on a computer where a policy is assigned, users can select a retention type from the policy. If a policy is not assigned to a computer, users add retention types on the computer itself. See Add retention types.