Verifying restorability annually

The Terms require you to check at least once a year that backup runs succeed and that items can be restored. This page describes how to do that and what you hold at the end.

Allow one to two hours. Most of that is waiting.

Why a check is needed

A green backup run says data was written. It does not say the data can be brought back. Between the two lie encryption, the storage target and the route back into Microsoft — three places where something can fail silently.

That is why the obligation is in the Terms, and why the daily verification run alone is not enough: it checks a sample of the stored content, not the complete route back.

Step 1: open the verification page

Open the verification page in the module. Check the age of the last sample. If it is more than 48 hours old, clear that up first — a check performed on a stalled verification run is not a check.

Note the date and the result.

Step 2: pull the status report

Pull the status report across all protection units. Watch for two things:

• Units in the state without a valid backup
• Units under not backed up with the reason Not yet selected for backup

Both are findings that belong resolved before the trial restore.

Step 3: select one unit per source type

Select one unit from each source type you back up. Do not take the smallest: a check on an empty mailbox proves nothing.

Step 4: restore

Run the guide for each selected unit. Two routes are permissible:

• Into a test target — a mailbox or OneDrive created for the purpose. This checks the complete route including writing to Microsoft.
• As a file — faster and without write access. This checks storage, decryption and reassembly, but not the route back.

At least once a year, check the route into a test target as well, not only the file.

Step 5: compare the result

Open the result and compare it with the original:

• Are the expected items there?
• Are attachments present and do they open?
• Do sender, recipient and date match?
• For files: does the content match, not just the name?

Samples are sufficient. Ten items per unit is a sound sample.

Step 6: file the record

Export the operation from the audit log. The entry contains the time, the person acting, source, target and result.

File together:

• the audit log excerpt
• the verification run result from step 1
• a short note on which units you checked and what you compared

That fulfils the obligation and makes it demonstrable.

If the check fails

If a comparison reports missing or unreadable content, that is a finding and not an operating error. Contact support with the audit log excerpt and the affected unit and point in time.

Keep backing up in the meantime. A finding on one unit says nothing about the others, and a switched-off run only makes matters worse.