Patent ID: 8707299

Claim:
A method, comprising: generating a query, wherein the query comprises information identifying a custodian associated with a legal hold, and specifying an expiration period associated with the legal hold; identifying a virtual machine based on the virtual machine being used by the custodian, in response to the generating the query, wherein the identifying comprises searching a directory for a mapping corresponding to the custodian, and the custodian remotely operates the virtual machine as a virtual desktop controlled by the custodian; causing a virtual desktop manager to generate a snapshot of data of the virtual machine and resources of the virtual machine, in response to the identifying, and initiating storage of the snapshot generated by the virtual desktop manager in a storage device not controlled by the custodian, wherein the generating, the specifying, the identifying, the causing, and the initiating are performed by a tool configured to prevent expiration of data subject to the legal hold prior to an end of the specified expiration period.