Backup software: a restore trial checklist

List the applications, record types, attachments, identities and relationships needed for the trial. Ask which of them the quoted connector covers and which require a separate process. Make the boundary explicit for deleted accounts, shared workspaces and configuration data. Include one deliberately excluded item so the reviewer can recognise an incomplete recovery. For a service your team operates, record the storage destination and who patches the backup software. For a managed service, name the supplier and service scope. Retain the dated coverage statement alongside what your trial actually restored.

Create the first version of the sample, run the configured protection process and record its completion. Change one record, remove another and capture the next run. Choose which earlier point the exercise should recover and why. Record both the timestamp represented by that point and the time the job finished. Ask how missed runs, connector failures and retention settings affect the available history. A successful recent job does not answer whether the older state you need is still available. Use a failed trial connection to inspect how the operator notices and investigates missing coverage.

Restore into the agreed isolated destination, with an operator who has the intended permissions. Record the request time, job completion time and the time the independent reviewer can complete the business task. Read the restored content, follow the relationships and check the permissions from a non-administrator account. Ask how a larger dataset or service-side limit could change the result, and keep the small trial’s scope visible. AWS Backup documents restore-job execution and optional validation as separate steps; that distinction is useful when designing this exercise for any product, without implying identical capabilities.

Ask a second operator to repeat the recovery from your notes. Document which identities, keys, subscriptions and supplier services must remain available. Request the price of storage, transfers, retention, support and trial restores for your expected workload. Ask how retained backups can be exported or accessed after ending the service, and what limitations apply. Finally, remove the temporary recovery environment and check that the trial resources have actually been cleaned up. Record the result, unresolved questions and owner in the worksheet. Keep production restoration approval and the trial decision as separate steps.