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Salesforce ArchitectureAdvancedretentionarchivalcompliance

Design record retention and archival architecture

Real World Scenario

10-year retention policy for Cases conflicts with Salesforce storage costs and performance at 50M records.

Expected Answer

• Tiered storage: active in Salesforce warm archive Big Object cold external warehouse • Retention rules automating archive after case closed plus N days • Legal hold suspends deletion propagation • Search archived records via external index or Big Object query UI • Restore workflow rare but documented for litigation • GDPR erasure applies across tiers consistently • Cost model archive vs full CRM storage

Follow-Up Questions & Answers

Click to expand — each follow-up includes a direct, interview-ready answer

Main difference: use case and scale. Tiered storage: active in Salesforce warm archive Big Object cold external warehouse. Retention rules automating archive after case closed plus N days. Pick based on your integration pattern and team capability. Retention is legal plus performance requirement—design archive tiers at implementation not at storage crisis. Optimize for scale and operational observability.

Architect Perspective

Retention is legal plus performance requirement—design archive tiers at implementation not at storage crisis.