The continuity of the persistence spectrum is provided by a set of per-file time constraints (one for each level of the storage hierarchy) that specify the maximum amount of time that modified data may reside at each level before being archived to the next level of the storage hierarchy. Since each level of the storage hierarchy has increasing persistence guarantees, the sooner data is archived to the next level, the lower its possibility of loss. Conversely, if data plans to linger in the higher levels, the chance of that data surviving decreases. A daemon process tracks modified data at each storage level, archiving the data to the next lower level within the prescribed amount of time. When data is archived to the next level, it continues to exist at the current level unless space becomes scarce.
Conceptually, as the cost of recreating the data increases, so should the file's persistence level. For example, while a file may be relatively easy to regenerate (for example, an executable compiled from sources) and may never need to hit stable storage, moving it to stable storage after some period of time can prevent the need for the data to be regenerated later (for example, after a power failure). If a file is highly active (i.e., being written frequently), such as an object code file (.o), the time delay prevents the intermediate versions of the file from being sent to lower levels of the hierarchy but will ultimately archive the data at some point in the future, after the active period has finished.
Although archiving of data to lower levels of the hierarchy occurs at predefined time intervals, there are several other events that can cause the archival process to occur earlier than the maximum time duration. First, the daemon may send the data to the next level sooner than required if the archiving can be done without adversely affecting other processes in the system. Most networks of workstations experience an inactive period each night. Consequently, modified files are often archived through all the levels at the end of each day regardless of how long their respective time constraints are. Second, some storage levels such as LM and LCM are limited in capacity. At such levels, modified data may need to be sent to the next level early to make room for new data. Lastly, a modified file may be archived to stable storage (DA level) earlier than required if one of the file's dependencies is about to be changed (see Section 6).