Verification cycle
The steps from backup selection to the production of an evidence package.
A RestorSignal run always follows the same sequence, whether the test happens in Local mode (inside the client's own environment) or Lab mode (a temporary environment provisioned by RestorSignal). This page describes those steps at the level of principle; the technical details of the exchange protocol belong to the RS-RVP reference framework.
1. Selection by the client
The first step is never carried out by RestorSignal. The client, their MSP, or their IT department explicitly selects the artifact to be checked — a database backup, a Proxmox CT or VM, a file archive. RestorSignal never connects to a backup console to pick "the latest backup" itself, and in fact does not hold the credentials that would let it do so. See Division of responsibilities.
2. Triggering
The test is triggered by a client action — manually, or automated through a client-side scheduled job (a cron, an enterprise scheduler). Automation changes nothing about the principle: it is always an instruction defined by the client, never an initiative taken by RestorSignal.
3. Artifact identification
The submitted or designated artifact is identified: presence, opening, size, format, a computable cryptographic fingerprint. This step corresponds to level L1 of the reference framework (see Evidence levels).
4. Environment preparation
Preparation differs by mode. In Local mode, the execution environment already exists at the client's site, in the form of a runner installed on their infrastructure. In Lab mode, RestorSignal provisions a temporary environment — creating a virtual machine, provisioning it — dedicated to that single test.
5. Restore
A real restore operation is carried out: an actual database import, rebuilding a CT or VM, starting the engine or the restored system. This is never a simulation or a purely declarative check — the result comes from an actual technical operation.
6. Post-restore checks
A series of checks runs after the restore: structural integrity first, then service functioning, then, when the client has defined an application protocol, the corresponding business checks.
7. Qualifying each control
Each control receives a strict status — PASS, FAIL, ERROR, or NOT_APPLICABLE. See Result statuses for the exact definition of each.
8. Reporting results
In Local mode, normalized, sealed results are reported back to RestorSignal over a signed channel; the artifact and the Test Pack can stay on the client's side throughout. In Lab mode, RestorSignal observes the run directly inside the environment it provisioned.
9. Producing the evidence package
Results are canonicalized, sealed, and, when configured, timestamped. The resulting evidence package documents the object tested, the level reached, the controls executed, and their limitations — see The evidence package.
10. Environment destruction (Lab mode)
In Lab mode, the temporary environment is destroyed once the test completes: secrets are removed, temporary files erased, and the environment itself torn down. These steps are themselves recordable events. In Local mode this step does not apply, since the execution environment belongs to the client and stays under their control throughout.