Data retention period for each data type
Minimum data retention period
Data can be removed from the interface (not shown) but still stored in the SolarWinds Observability database.
Some data types (such as logs) have retention periods based on the user's plan. For plans with less than a 30-day retention period, data is removed from the interface based on the plan's retention period, but is not deleted from the database until the 30th day.
If entity data is removed from the interface but still stored in the database and a new telemetry references the data, the data is restored.
Managed and unmanaged entities
Certain types of entities that you add and manage (such as servers or websites) are never automatically deleted.
Unmanaged entities are created by inference during telemetry ingestion. When an unmanaged entity becomes inactive (stops sending data), it is removed from the system after the data retention period. The data retention period depends on what data type the entity is associated with.
Default retention periods for each data type
| Data type | Retention period |
|---|---|
| Queries | Database queries shown on the Queries tab are retained for 18 months after they are last seen. |
| Alerts | Alert data is stored for 30 days. |
| Events |
Most events are stored for 30 days. The following DEM event namespaces have a retention period of 180 days:
|
| Traces |
Trace summaries are stored for 30 days. The calculated trace tree is serialized into a BSON (Binary JSON) file, which is stored for 30 days. |
| Logs |
Log retention is one of the following, depending on your plan:
|
| Metrics |
The retention period for metric data is one of the following, depending on the granularity:
|