Method, system, and program for retention management and protection of stored objects

1. A method for managing retention of stored objects, comprising:

receiving a modification request with respect to an attribute or archive policy for an object;

determining whether an attribute modification protection flag or setting is set in response to the modification request requesting to modify the attribute for the object;

allowing the modification of the attribute object in response to determining that the attribute modification protection flag or setting is not set;

determining whether a protection retention mechanism or setting is set in response to the modification request requesting to modify the archive policy for the object; and

allowing the modification of the archive policy for the object in response to determining that the protection retention mechanism or setting is not set.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the attributes of the object to modify comprise at least one of permissions and ownership.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining whether the modification request is to increase the retention period specified for the archive policy in response to determining that the protection retention mechanism or setting is set and the object has not expired;

allowing the modification request to increase the retention period if the modification request is determined to increase the retention period; and

blocking the modification request if the modification request is determined to not increase the retention period.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

denying the request to modify the attribute of the object in response to determining that the attribute modification protection flag or setting is set; and

denying the request to modify the archive policy in response to determining that the protection retention mechanism or setting is set and the modification request to modify the archive policy does not satisfy a condition.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a request to delete the object; and

deleting the object in response to determining that the protection retention mechanism or setting is not set.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

determining whether a deletion hold is set for the object in response to determining that the protection retention mechanism or setting is not set; and

blocking the deletion request if the deletion hold is set regardless of whether the object has expired.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

determining whether the object has expired according to the archive policy in response to determining that the deletion hold is not set; and

blocking the deletion request in response to determining that the object has not expired.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

deleting the object in response to determining that the object has expired.

9. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

receiving indication that the deletion hold for the object is released, wherein deletion requests directed to the object after the deletion hold is released are allowed to proceed if the object has expired.

10. A system for managing retention of stored objects, comprising:

a processor;

a computer readable storage medium having code executed by a processor to perform operations, the operations comprising:

receiving a modification request with respect to an attribute or archive policy for an object;

determining whether an attribute modification protection flag or setting is set in response to the modification request requesting to modify the attribute for the object;

allowing the modification of the attribute object in response to determining that the attribute modification protection flag or setting is not set;

determining whether a protection retention mechanism or setting is set in response to the modification request requesting to modify the archive policy for the object; and

allowing the modification of the archive policy for the object in response to determining that the protection retention mechanism or setting is not set.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the attributes of the object to modify comprise at least one of permissions and ownership.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining whether the modification request is to increase the retention period specified for the archive policy in response to determining that the protection retention mechanism or setting is set and the object has not expired;

allowing the modification request to increase the retention period if the modification request is determined to increase the retention period; and

blocking the modification request if the modification request is determined to not increase the retention period.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein operations further comprise:

denying the request to modify the attribute of the object in response to determining that the attribute modification protection flag or setting is set; and

denying the request to modify the archive policy in response to determining that the protection retention mechanism or setting is set and the modification request to modify the archive policy does not satisfy a condition.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the operations further comprise

receiving a request to delete the object; and

deleting the object in response to determining that the protection retention mechanism or setting is not set.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining whether a deletion hold is set for the object in response to determining that the protection retention mechanism or setting is not set; and

blocking the deletion request if the deletion hold is set regardless of whether the object has expired.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining whether the object has expired according to the archive policy in response to determining that the deletion hold is not set; and

blocking the deletion request in response to determining that the object has not expired.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the operations further comprise:

deleting the object in response to determining that the object has expired.

18. The system of claim 15 , wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving indication that the deletion hold for the object is released, wherein deletion requests directed to the object after the deletion hold is released are allowed to proceed if the object has expired.

19. A computer readable storage medium having code executed by a processor to manage retention of stored objects and perform operations, the operations comprising:

receiving a modification request with respect to an attribute or archive policy for an object;

determining whether an attribute modification protection flag or setting is set in response to the modification request requesting to modify the attribute for the object;

allowing the modification of the attribute object in response to determining that the attribute modification protection flag or setting is not set;

determining whether a protection retention mechanism or setting is set in response to the modification request requesting to modify the archive policy for the object; and

allowing the modification of the archive policy for the object in response to determining that the protection retention mechanism or setting is not set.

20. The computer readable storage media of claim 19 , wherein the attributes of the object to modify comprise at least one of permissions and ownership.

21. The computer readable storage media of claim 19 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining whether the modification request is to increase the retention period specified for the archive policy in response to determining that the protection retention mechanism or setting is set and the object has not expired;

allowing the modification request to increase the retention period if the modification request is determined to increase the retention period; and

blocking the modification request if the modification request is determined to not increase the retention period.

22. The computer readable storage media of claim 19 , wherein the operations further comprise:

denying the request to modify the attribute of the object in response to determining that the attribute modification protection flag or setting is set; and

denying the request to modify the archive policy in response to determining that the protection retention mechanism or setting is set and the modification request to modify the archive policy does not satisfy a condition.

23. The computer readable storage media of claim 19 , wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving a request to delete the object; and

deleting the object in response to determining that the protection retention mechanism or setting is not set.

24. The computer readable storage media of claim 23 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining whether a deletion hold is set for the object in response to determining that the protection retention mechanism or setting is not set; and

blocking the deletion request if the deletion hold is set regardless of whether the object has expired.

25. The computer readable storage media of claim 24 , wherein the operations further comprise:

determining whether the object has expired according to the archive policy in response to determining that the deletion hold is not set; and

blocking the deletion request in response to determining that the object has not expired.

26. The computer readable storage media of claim 25 , wherein the operations further comprise:

deleting the object in response to determining that the object has expired.

27. The computer readable storage media of claim 24 , wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving indication that the deletion hold for the object is released, wherein deletion requests directed to the object after the deletion hold is released are allowed to proceed if the object has expired.