Recovery Lab – will your company really start again from its backup?

A recovery lab is an IT environment separated from your production network, in which backup data is restored and the systems are then started. It does not stop at writing individual files back: what emerges is a working environment in which recovery can be tested in practice.

A backup check shows that backup data exists and is technically readable. A restore test shows that selected data or systems can be written back. A recovery lab test goes further and examines whether the backups you hold can produce a connected, started and testable IT environment.

Yes. You provide us with the agreed backup data and the system information required, and we restore the agreed systems from it on our recovery infrastructure. Which source systems are possible is something we clarify case by case before the test; you provide the backup software needed for it.

Yes. Starting the systems is part of the test — that is precisely what distinguishes it from simply writing data back. Whether a system boots, and how it starts, is the first result you can rely on.

Yes, and that is expressly the intention. Your authorised staff are given controlled access to the isolated environment. You carry out the functional checks on sign-in, data, applications and business processes yourself, because only you can judge whether your processes are working correctly.

Yes. The restore runs on ITN recovery infrastructure and not in your production environment. Your live IT is left untouched.

Yes. The test environment is provided separately from the customer's production network. Access is given only to the people you name.

Yes — complete virtual machines are the norm here, not individual files. Which systems are restored, and in what order, is something we agree together before the test.

Domain controllers can be restored and started as part of the agreed system landscape. Whether user sign-in and dependent services then behave as expected is something you check yourself in the isolated environment. Whether your directory structure can be represented sensibly is something we clarify beforehand.

Database servers are restored and started as complete systems. Whether the database services come up and the data is correct in business terms is something you then check yourself in the test environment.

Yes. ITN's recovery infrastructure is built on Proxmox VE and Proxmox Backup Server. Backups from Proxmox environments are therefore the most direct route into the Recovery Lab, because source and target platform share the same technology.

That depends on the individual case and is clarified before the test. Our recovery infrastructure is Proxmox-based. To restore from backups made with other backup products, you provide the necessary software and its licences. Describe your setup to us and we will tell you what is possible.

We check that too, before the test, against your actual environment. What matters is the format your backups are in and which software is needed to write them back. You bring that software; we provide the recovery environment and carry out the restore.

That depends on the scope: the number and size of the systems, the volume of data and the dependencies between systems. We estimate the time needed together with you before the test. We do not give blanket timings, because without knowing your environment they would not be worth anything.

How the backup data you hand over and the test environment are treated after the test is settled bindingly in the contract beforehand, including data processing under the GDPR. Bring your own requirements on this into the preparation.

Processing takes place on infrastructure in Germany. ITN-Network runs its own cloud and recovery platform in Germany and has its registered office in Neumünster, Schleswig-Holstein.

For companies whose operations depend on IT and who do not want to improvise when it matters. It is particularly worthwhile where there is no second data centre and no spare test hardware on which to rehearse a recovery safely — which is to say, in the typical Mittelstand.

Yes, and there is much to be said for it: system landscapes change, dependencies are added, backup configurations are adjusted. A result from two years ago says little about where you stand today. Recurring tests can be arranged.

The recovery lab test is meant as a planned test of an assumed scenario — not as emergency response and not as IT forensics. It shows in advance whether your backups will carry a recovery when the original infrastructure is not to be used. If you are dealing with a live incident, contact us directly; that is a different engagement from a planned test.