Backup validation

Validation is an operation that checks the possibility of data recovery from a backup. When this option is enabled, each backup created by the protection plan is validated immediately after creation. This operation is performed by the protection agent.

The preset is: Disabled.

Validation calculates a checksum for every data block that can be recovered from the backup. The only exception is validation of file-level backups that are located in the cloud storage. These backups are validated by checking consistency of the metadata saved in the backup.

Validation is a time-consuming process, even for an incremental or differential backup, which are small in size. This is because the operation validates not only the data physically contained in the backup, but all of the data recoverable by selecting the backup. This requires access to previously created backups.

While the successful validation means a high probability of successful recovery, it does not check all factors that influence the recovery process. If you back up the operating system, we recommend performing a test recovery under the bootable media to a spare hard drive or running a virtual machine from the backup in the ESXi or Hyper-V environment.