Restore the newest copy you can prove nobody changed

Yes 2

Written down, with a date (a log, a screen, a document), and it meets your own plan.

Partly 1

Remembered, but not written down, or the record shows you missed your plan.

No 0

Nobody knows, or it was never done. A blank is a finding.

"None, checked on a date" counts as a record. No plan or target written down? Write your guess first, then measure: the guess is your plan.

Tap No, Partly or Yes for each question. Your score adds up as you go. Nothing you tap is saved or sent.

Five questions about your own setup

1. 1 What is the date of your oldest locked copy, and where does it live?

   Your answer, and where it is written down (with the date) The date of the oldest copy that cannot be changed or deleted, and where it lives: offline, a locked snapshot, or tape on a shelf.

   Your answer

   No 0Partly 1Yes 2
   Score 0, 1 or 2This quarterNext quarter

   How to raise it

   Where to find it:

   The retention setting (how long copies are kept) in your backup software or on your storage array, and the oldest copy it lists today.

   To get it to a 2:

   The date, read off the screen today, and the setting that keeps it there, both written down. It reaches back as far as your own plan says it should.

   What this does not prove:

   An old copy is not proof of a good one. Row 4 is how you find out.

2. 2 Which copy would you restore first, and do two people name the same one?

   Your answer, and where it is written down (with the date) Which copy you would restore first, and why that one. Then what a second person says.

   Your answer

   No 0Partly 1Yes 2
   Score 0, 1 or 2This quarterNext quarter

   How to raise it

   Where to find it:

   Ask the person who would run the restore. Then ask a second person. Different answers are a finding.

   To get it to a 2:

   Both people name the same copy, and a written rule for picking it, agreed by the team, with the date.

   Three checks for the locked copy itself: the immutable copy test

3. 3 When does the lock on that copy run out, and who can shorten or remove it?

   Your answer, and where it is written down (with the date) The date the lock ends, and who can change or delete the copy before then: it is offline, a lock setting, a separate role, or nobody knows.

   Your answer

   No 0Partly 1Yes 2
   Score 0, 1 or 2This quarterNext quarter

   How to raise it

   Where to find it:

   The lock or retention settings, and who can change them. If the answer is "it is just old", write that.

   To get it to a 2:

   The lock end date and the people who can change it, written down and checked on a date.

4. 4 Have you restored that copy into a test area to check it works?

   Your answer, and where it is written down (with the date) Whether that copy has been put back into a separate test area, and when.

   Your answer

   No 0Partly 1Yes 2
   Score 0, 1 or 2This quarterNext quarter

   How to raise it

   Where to find it:

   Your restore steps and any restore log, or ask the team. If nobody has tried it, write that.

   To get it to a 2:

   A dated restore of that copy into a test area, with the owner confirming it works.

5. 5 When did someone last read the lock setting, and what did it say?

   Your answer, and where it is written down (with the date) The date someone last read the retention and lock settings, and what they found.

   Your answer

   No 0Partly 1Yes 2
   Score 0, 1 or 2This quarterNext quarter

   How to raise it

   Where to find it:

   Change records, or read them now and note the date. A setting that is switched on but never read can be set wrong.

   To get it to a 2:

   A dated reading inside the interval your team sets. No interval written down? Write your guess and score against it.