According to what they’re saying, the backup tapes are on a six month rotation. When a backup is performed everything is saved, it is a snapshot as of that time. That snapshot will be available for six months. So in June, January’s snapshot is the oldest available. In July, February’s snapshot is the oldest available. And so forth.
When her drive failed it presumably contained all the “lost” email. To illustrate, let’s say her drive failed in January. They have until June to replace her drive and restore the data.
It is impossible to believe that Lerner went without her computer being repaired for six months.
But, restoring six months back to her client PC does not deal with the client storage limits.
ISTM the important thing is the claim that only six months at a time is preserved. That is mind boggling.