Blog & Resources
Everything you need to know about backup restore verification — compliance, best practices and tool comparisons.
A "successful" backup proves nothing: 4 restores out of 10 fail
57% of enterprise backup jobs succeed, but only 61% of restore attempts deliver the expected result. Why the green light on your backup tool doesn't prove your data is recoverable — and how to actually prove it.
NIS2 and backups: what Article 21 actually requires (and how to prove it)
Article 21 of the NIS2 directive mandates backup management and business continuity. Without documented restore testing, you are non-compliant. Here is what auditors expect and how to produce the evidence.
ISO 27001 A.8.13: the restore evidence your auditor will ask for
ISO 27001 control A.8.13 requires backups to be tested regularly. A green light isn't enough: auditors want timestamped restore test reports. How to produce that evidence without spending your weekends on it.
How to test your backup restores: a practical guide (manual vs automated)
A complete method for testing the restorability of your PostgreSQL, MySQL and file backups: step-by-step manual procedure, validation criteria, recommended frequencies, and automation with audit evidence.
Back up PostgreSQL to S3: the full guide, from pg_dump to a verified restore
What pg_dump leaves out, which dump format to pick, a backup script that cannot report success on an empty file, restoring by hand in a throwaway container, and the four queries that prove a restored database holds your data.
Back up MySQL and MariaDB to S3: the full guide, from mysqldump to a verified restore
What mysqldump leaves out, which options matter, a backup script that cannot report success on an empty file, restoring by hand in a throwaway container, and the four queries that prove a restored MySQL database holds your data.
Back up WordPress: the database and the files, and proof the site comes back
Why a WordPress backup is always two files, what wp-config.php puts in your archive, a backup script that cannot report success on an empty dump, restoring by hand until the site answers, and the queries that prove a restored database holds your posts.
Verify a file backup archive: checksum, extraction and canary files
What truncates an archive without saying so, why a checksum written next to it changes everything, a tar script that cannot report success on an empty archive, verification with gzip -t and tar -tzf, and the canary files that prove an extraction really brought your data back.
Back up Gitea and verify the restore: database, repositories and attachments
The three parts of a Gitea backup, what gitea dump does and what it costs, a backup script that cannot report success on an empty dump, restoring by hand up to a git clone that works, and the queries that prove a restored database describes your repositories.
Back up Vaultwarden: the database, the data directory, and proof the vault can be restored
Why a Vaultwarden database restored without its encryption material hands back no readable secret, how to back up a SQLite install without corrupting it, restoring by hand in a throwaway container, and the four queries that prove a vault is still there.
Back up MongoDB to S3: from mongodump to a verified restore
What mongodump leaves out, what --oplog, --gzip and --archive really change, a backup script that cannot report success on an empty file, restoring by hand in a throwaway container, and the four mongosh questions that prove the collections came back.
Back up an OpenLDAP directory: two exports, the reload and the checks
Why a directory backup is two exports, what slapcat guarantees that ldapsearch does not, the operational attributes you have to strip before reloading, and the four ldapsearch commands that prove a restored directory is usable.
Evaluating a solution? See how RestoreProof differs from enterprise tools.
Veeam SureBackup alternative: verify your backups without the Veeam ecosystem
Veeam SureBackup is excellent — if all your backups go through Veeam B&R and a VMware/Hyper-V hypervisor. For PostgreSQL/MySQL dumps on S3, Docker stacks and home-grown backups, RestoreProof is the vendor-agnostic alternative.
Rubrik alternative for backup verification: proof without the $100k appliance
Rubrik is a complete enterprise platform, with an entry ticket to match. If what you need is proof that your existing backups restore, RestoreProof does it for the price of a SaaS subscription, without replacing your stack.
Commvault alternative for restore validation: simple, sovereign, affordable
Commvault covers 250+ workloads with automated validation — at the cost of complexity and quote-based pricing. To prove your PostgreSQL/MySQL dumps on S3 actually restore, RestoreProof does the job as a lightweight SaaS.