Archive validation

Set up the validation task to check if the backed-up data is recoverable. If the backup could not pass the validation successfully, the validation task fails and the backup plan gets the Error status.

Validation of a file backup imitates recovery of all files from the backup to a dummy destination. Validation of a volume backup calculates a checksum for every data block saved in the backup.

To set up validation, specify the following parameters

1. When to validate – select when to perform the validation. As the validation is a resource-intensive operation, it makes sense to schedule the validation to the managed machine's off-peak period. On the other hand, if the validation is a major part of your data protection strategy and you prefer to be immediately informed whether the backed-up data is not corrupted and can be successfully recovered, think of starting the validation right after backup creation.
2. What to validate – select either to validate the entire archive or the latest backup in the archive.

   Validation of the archive will validate all the archive’s backups and may take a long time and a lot of system resources.

   Validation of the latest backup may also take time, even if this backup is incremental or differential, and 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.

3. Validation schedule (appears only if you have selected On schedule in step 1) - set the schedule of validation. For more information see the Scheduling section.