Backup and recovery testing

What is backup and recovery testing?
A backup and recovery test is a process used to ensure that a backup and recovery plan is working properly after a real disaster. These types of tests can include many different types of analysis, from simple file recovery tests to detailed scenario tests.

Organizations invest a lot of money and effort in backup and recovery plans for simple user events as well as emergency events such as natural disasters. However, without adequate testing, it is difficult to know if a backup and recovery plan is working. Testing, in a sense, completes the circle when it comes to preparing for natural disasters or other crises.

Ideally, organizations should be able to test their actual live systems for proper backup and restore functionality. However, these types of tests, sometimes referred to as 'live tests' or 'disruptive tests', can be intrusive and difficult to perform. Sometimes a company can set up dummy systems, although experts warn against testing 'similar environments' and not analyzing the backup and recovery systems yourself.

In relation to the actual work in backup and recovery tests, executives or other executives can schedule general tests such as: B. scenario-based operational tests and tests for backup power sources. When it comes to testing IT systems for backup and recovery, these tests can be as varied as simulating the loss of simple data files or an entire server; Investigation of backup processes for operating systems, databases and applications; or testing failback and failover processes and looking for accurate IT responses to a range of events.