Quick answer
Database backups are only useful when they actually run. Learn how to monitor scheduled backups and detect silent failures before a disaster.
The backup exists until you need it
One of the most dangerous monitoring gaps is a backup process that quietly stops. Disk-full errors, expired credentials, broken mounts, or a failed cron job can leave the production database running while the recovery path disappears.
Monitor the completion signal
Instead of checking only that the backup script exists, make successful completion send a heartbeat to an external monitor. The heartbeat should happen after the backup has passed your own success checks.
What to alert on
Alert when the expected heartbeat is missing, when the job runs late, or when the backup command fails before the heartbeat step. The monitoring system should tell you that the job was not completed, not falsely report success because the script started.
Keep backup monitoring independent
A local log on the same server is not a reliable notification channel when the server itself fails. External monitoring creates a second system that can still tell the team something is wrong.
Sources and references
Related PingStag guides
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