What is the best way to measure the success of your backup and recovery test?

Measure the success of database backup and recovery tests by evaluating factors like RTO (Recovery Time Objective) and RPO (Recovery Point Objective) achievement. Assess completeness, accuracy, and consistency of restored data. Monitor error rates and ensure compliance with backup policies. Conduct periodic drills with varied scenarios, and analyze post-recovery system performance. Document and learn from any issues to continuously improve the backup and recovery processes.

Best way to measure the success of your backup is to make restore testing in a remote server adhering to your RTO and RPO requirements. Document the restore process in a efficient way for future reference.

Backing Up for Brilliance! Before diving into tests, setting objectives is the beacon. Define success metrics—data consistency, speed of recovery—and ensure your backup and recovery strategy is primed to meet them.

That does indeed sum up pretty much the main KPIs to be evaluated, but I would add two more: 1. Performance During Recovery: Assess the performance of the system during the recovery process. This includes the load on network and system resources. The recovery process shouldn't negatively impact other operations significantly. 2. Automation and Simplicity: The ease and automation of the recovery process are also important. A successful backup and recovery test should demonstrate that the process can be executed with minimal manual intervention and is straightforward enough to be performed under stress.

Estabeleça metas claras para o teste, como o tempo de recuperação desejado, a integridade dos dados após a restauração e a capacidade de recuperação em diferentes cenários.

Deliberately causing data corruption or loss, initiating a backup, then attempting a recovery. Assess the system's ability to restore data accurately, the time taken to recover (RTO), and the data point to which it can be restored (RPO). Additionally, test scenarios might include hardware failures, software crashes, or accidental deletion of critical data to ensure the robustness of the backup and recovery mechanisms.

Scenario Selection: The Art of Simulation! From database snapshots to cloud-based recoveries, choosing the right test scenario brings realism to your evaluation. It's all about replicating real-world challenges and prepping for all possibilities.

I would say the true soup-to-nuts test scenario is to have to build the server(VM or whatever) that the DB sits on, install the DB engine, configure, then recover from backup. This way you are simulating all the steps you have to take if you’re recovering from a catastrophic hardware of software failure. Include the DB backup, but also remember to test the transaction logs as well.

We first understand the objective of the test- Recovery Time Objective (RTO): How quickly do you need to restore operations Recovery Point Objective (RPO): How much data loss can you tolerate? Specific Risks: Test for scenarios relevant to your environment (e.g., hardware failure, malware, human error). Backup Frequency: How often are backups performed, and what type (full, differential, log)? Backup Storage: Local, remote, or cloud-based? Testing Frequency: Regularly test backup and recovery processes to ensure reliability. *Testing Full Backup and Recovery *Testing Partial Backup and Recovery *Testing Recovery of Corrupted or Deleted Data *Testing Recovery in a Different Environment *Testing Recovery from a Remote or Cloud-Based Location

*Prepare the Test Environment *Initiate the Test *Perform the Backup *Simulate Failure (if applicable) *Initiate Recovery *Monitor Resources *Verify Data Integrity *Document Results *Analyze and Address Issues *Repeat Testing Regularly -- (We can perform surprise/random tests as well)

Testing, One-Two-Three! Executing the backup and recovery test is like a symphony—a series of meticulously documented steps, commands, and resource monitoring to ensure every move is in sync.

Implemente o teste conforme planejado, utilizando tanto automação quanto intervenção humana, se necessário. Abuse da IA, observe o desempenho da IA na gestão do teste e na identificação de potenciais problemas.

Result Showdown! Post-test, it's the moment of truth. Do your backups pass the consistency check? Does the recovery meet your time and data loss objectives? It's the spotlight on how well your strategy stands up.

Analise os resultados do teste em comparação com os objetivos estabelecidos. Avalie a precisão da recuperação, o tempo necessário para restaurar os dados e a consistência com os backups.

Report and Rise! The aftermath isn't the end; it's the beginning. Summarize your findings and recommendations in a detailed report, and use it not just to show prowess but to fuel the evolution of your backup and recovery procedures.

Documente os resultados de forma abrangente, destacando pontos fortes e áreas de melhoria. Compartilhe esses resultados com a comunidade do LinkedIn para obter feedback e insights adicionais.

Sharing your information with people who have gone through the same process before is a great way of exchanging ideas and acquiring knowledge from people that took different approaches to solve the issue. Proper training and brainstorming sessions with the team to generate ideas for future situations is also very beneficial.

Sharing your information with people who have gone through the same process before is a great way of exchanging ideas and acquiring knowledge from people that took different approaches to solve the issue. Proper training and brainstorming sessions with the team to generate ideas for future situations is also very beneficial.

Another important thing to not forget is to get stakeholders' sign off on the backup tests reports and keep them stored safely for auditing purposes. Databases sizes can grow even many times its size a year, so they need to be aware of the impacts it can have on RTO. Some critical application tests should be run to make sure that not only data was successfully recovered but also security objects, permissions as well.

I have a simple, practical method to validate the database backup restoration success 1. PostgreSQL 'pg_verify_checksums' to verify the checksums of data pages in the PostgreSQL data directory. This will check the data pages and report any inconsistencies. 2. MongoDB Run a script to check below system schema on all databases , collection and compare them 'db.stats()' 'db.collection.dataSize()'

Automation becomes a critical component of backup and recovery process, and in realtime a fully automated process can reduce the recovery by more than half in time. I would recommend that enough time is taken to develop, test and validate successful automation of backup and recovery process.

Toda base de datos debe tener puntos de control, sumatorias, número de filas y columnas, número de campos, etcétera, validar una copia de seguridad siempre debe ser el paso final del proceso

Considere a implementação de soluções de IA para monitoramento contínuo e detecção de anomalias nos backups. Explore as práticas recomendadas da comunidade do LinkedIn e as experiências de outros profissionais na área de backup e recuperação.

Se você atua em um ambiente auditável, não esqueça de salvar as evidências do teste... Siga o cronograma de testes, documente, deixe os registros na mão, o time de auditoria agradece!