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Database
Set up database backups and test a restore
Configures automated backups with retention, then actually restores one to prove it works.
Free Prompt
Set up automated backups for my database and prove they work. Check what my host provides (most managed databases have point-in-time recovery or scheduled snapshots; confirm they're actually enabled, not just available).
Implement: automated daily backups at minimum with at least 7 to 30 days of retention; if the database is self-hosted or the host's backups are limited, a scheduled dump job (pg_dump, mongodump, or equivalent) written to separate storage (object storage in a different account or region, not the same server); and a documented restore procedure. Then the part everyone skips: perform an actual test restore into a scratch database and verify the data is complete and queryable. A backup that's never been restored is a hope, not a backup.
Do not store backups on the same machine or in the same failure domain as the database. Do not include real user data in any backup used for development; if I need dev fixtures, that's a separate sanitized dataset.
Deliver: the backup configuration, the retention policy, the restore runbook (exact steps, written down in the repo), and the results of the test restore. Tell me the recovery point I'm buying (how much data I'd lose in a disaster: an hour? a day?).
What This Does / How This Helps
Turns on real automated backups, stores them somewhere that survives the database dying, and then does the step almost nobody does: restores one to prove it works. Backups fail silently for months. The job errors out, the disk fills, the credentials expired, and you find out the day the database is gone. The test restore is the only thing that converts 'we have backups' from an assumption into a fact. You also get a written restore runbook and an honest recovery-point answer: how much data you actually lose in a worst-case event, so it's a decision instead of a surprise.
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