GluePuddingTool

File Backup Rotation Schedule

Generate a Grandfather-Father-Son backup rotation schedule with configurable daily, weekly, monthly and yearly retention. See backup counts, estimate storage needs and get media rotation advice, plus a 3-2-1 strategy reference.

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How to Use

  1. Pick a strategy: GFS standard, simple daily backup, or the 3-2-1 strategy notes.
  2. Set the backup start date and the retention periods for each tier (days, weeks, months, years).
  3. Optionally enter the size per backup (GB) to estimate total storage.
  4. Click Generate to see the overview cards, media recommendation and the schedule table.
  5. The 3-2-1 tab is a reference text; no schedule is generated there.

Features

  • GFS (Grandfather-Father-Son) scheduling: daily (Son), every Monday (Father), the 1st of each month (Grandfather) and January 1st (yearly).
  • Simple daily mode switches to daily-only retention with a default of 90 days.
  • Built-in 3-2-1 strategy explanation with a suggested setup (NAS, external drive, cloud storage).
  • Storage estimate is shown when a per-backup size is provided.
  • Media recommendation scales with the total backup count (external drives, NAS, LTO tape, professional backup systems).
  • Schedule table lists date, type, label and weekday, capped at the first 100 rows with a total counter.

Use Cases

Home NAS planning
Define daily, weekly and monthly retention with GFS so backups do not grow forever.
Small team backups
Design a rotation plan and estimate storage needs to control costs.
Management briefing
Show the retention strategy and estimated storage cost before approving a backup setup.
Learning 3-2-1
Read the built-in reference and plan 3 copies on 2 media types, 1 stored offsite.
Ops documentation
Attach the generated schedule to your runbook for on-call reference.

FAQ

What does GFS stand for?
Grandfather-Father-Son: daily (Son), weekly (Father), monthly (Grandfather) and yearly tiers of backups.
Which days do the tiers fall on?
Weekly backups run every Monday, monthly backups on the 1st of each month, yearly backups on January 1st.
How is storage estimated?
Total backups x size per backup (GB); the estimate appears only when a size is provided.
Why does the table show only 100 rows?
To keep the page responsive; the summary shows the total count and how many rows were omitted.
Does the 3-2-1 tab generate a schedule?
No, it is a reference text covering 3 copies, 2 media types and 1 offsite copy, with a suggested setup.