Your backup restore has never been tested - here is the 30-minute test that matters

Most teams have backups. Almost none have a tested restore. Those are different things, and only one of them saves you.

The 30-minute test

1. Pick your most boring database. Not the critical one - practice on the boring one.
2. Restore yesterday's backup to a scratch instance. Time it.
3. Open the app against the restored copy. Click through the five screens users actually use.
4. Write down three numbers: restore time, data age, and what broke.

What the numbers mean

• Restore time is your real RTO. If it is 6 hours, your DR plan that says "4 hours" is fiction.
• Data age is your real RPO. Nightly backups mean you lose a day - say that out loud to the business.
• What broke is your roadmap. Missing creds, stale connection strings, unmigrated schema - the classics.

Make it a habit

Run the test monthly, same checklist. The second run always finds something the first missed.

The 24/7 Ops Kit ships a restore-test checklist and DR plan templates. More free guides at dev.to/hive80lab.