An Azure backup service that provides built-in management at scale.
Hello,
A BACPAC is an export of the database schema and data, but it should not be treated as a native backup/restore replacement. Microsoft specifically states that BACPAC files are intended for migration or archiving, not backup and restore.
To verify that the export contains the actual data, I would recommend importing the BACPAC into a separate test SQL Server/database and validating it before deleting the original database. Check the row counts and, ideally, checksums or other application-level data validation for the important tables.
Also, simply renaming the .bacpac file to .zip and seeing folders such as [Data] does not by itself prove that the export is complete. A BACPAC is a ZIP-based package containing database metadata and data.
For a production migration/archive, SqlPackage is also recommended by Microsoft for export/import operations, especially for larger databases.
Most importantly, keep the original database available until the BACPAC has been successfully imported and the data has been independently verified.
Microsoft documentation:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/database/database-export