Backup validation cadence — farm stack standard¶
Purpose¶
How often to prove backups via restore drills—complements Runbook — backup validation and recovery drill (the how) and Restore and recovery tiers (the targets).
Standard (minimum cadence)¶
| Maturity | restic / repo check | Logical DB restore (staging) | Longhorn subset restore | etcd / k3s snapshot drill |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pilot | Monthly restic check (or equivalent) |
Before calling farm data production | Once before relying on PVC backup | Document path; lab only |
| Production | Monthly + after major upgrade | Quarterly full Drill B | Semi-annual | Annual or when topology changes |
Rule: RPO/RTO cells in the tier worksheet stay blank or “aspirational” until a dated drill completes (Runbook Reporting).
Execution tie: Major capital gates (G*) should not assume HA or cloud egress without matching backup evidence (Business plan execution and pilot operations hub).