A Backup Proof of Concept Is Only as Good as Its Restore Test

A backup proof of concept can look impressive quickly. The platform installs, workloads are discovered and the first jobs finish.

The buying decision deserves more evidence than that.

A useful proof of concept tests whether the proposed design can meet the organisation’s recovery and operating requirements under representative conditions.

Agree acceptance criteria first

Select workloads that reflect the production estate. Include the important databases, virtual machines or container applications rather than only the easiest test systems.

Define measurable outcomes: backup completion within the available window, an acceptable recovery point and a restore that the application owner can validate.

List assumptions about network access, storage, capacity and administrator permissions. These assumptions should be visible when the results are reviewed.

Give restore testing enough time

Plan several recovery scenarios. A single-file restore demonstrates one capability; recovering an application to an alternate location demonstrates more of the dependency chain.

Where relevant, test database consistency, access permissions and restoration from a secondary copy. Use a safe test environment and an agreed approach to handling production data.

Measure the complete recovery process. Record preparation, data retrieval, application startup and acceptance. Explain which parts were automated and which required manual work.

Check the everyday tasks

Administrators need to understand how failures are identified, retried and escalated. Review alerts, reporting, access control and the work needed to add a new workload.

Assess how the design will scale. A small test does not establish the backup window or deduplication result for the entire estate. Use the measurements as inputs to a sizing exercise and document the limits of the test.

For a multi-site GCC environment, consider connectivity and support responsibilities at each location. A central platform still needs a practical local operating model.

The final report should state what passed, what needs improvement and what remains untested. It should make the purchase decision easier to defend.

Virtech designs and delivers NetBackup and Cohesity proofs of concept with agreed criteria and documented recovery results. Learn more about our NetBackup and Cohesity services.

Start your next proof of concept with the restore scenarios your business will depend on.

Email sales@virtech.ae or call +971 4 580 7555 to speak with our specialists.