MEMO

When should I make a backup?

The absolute rule for when you make a backup is: If you have done more work than you wish to redo, make a backup! A backup should always be made after all the journals, from all accounting packages, have been printed and balanced, but before any post is run. In addition to the posts it is recommended that a backup be done before performing the following: file purges, end of day/month/year process, reorganize Files and automated processes (i.e. update). Reasons for making a backup for these functions, is that a mistake may be made in selecting parameters and/or some information may be lost. The original data can easily be restored from your backup to the hard disk, assuming the error is determined in a timely fashion. If an interrupted post damages any information, the original data must be restored to the hard disk from your backup, and the post must be performed again. When in doubt, do a backup.

Daily Backup Procedure

When you do your backup you should have the choice of either a full system or daily backup. (Sometimes the daily backup is called a data backup.) The daily backup should consist only of your RCC data directory and any frequently used word processing, spreadsheet, or database files. All of the files in the RCC data directory must be backed up during each daily backup. Do not use incremental backups (backups of only files that have changed). Along the same lines, each time a backup is done the tape should be overwritten, not appended to. To make the daily backup as quick as possible, no programs should be backed up during this backup, only data files. It is suggested that a daily backup be made just before your end of day/month/year process or posting is done. This will minimize the amount of work you have to redo if there is any error or mistake made during your end of day/month/year process. If you have questions on how to configure your daily backup, please contact RCC hardware support.

(Author’s anecdote: Some time ago a company experienced a power outage while doing their day end process. The situation required that they restore and they had not done a backup in over two weeks. The result is they had to restore back and redo over two weeks worth of work, simply because they do not do backups on a daily basis. This happens rarely, but it does happen. Can you afford to repeat the last two weeks of work?)

Weekly/Monthly Backup Procedure

Your weekly and monthly backups should be a complete backup of all the information (programs and data) on your server. A full backup should be performed before any RCC updates are installed, at least once per week, and at the end of each month. Again, if you have any questions on how to configure your full system backup, please contact RCC hardware support.

Precautions for all backups

Backing up is a single-user function in a company! When making a backup always check the other stations to make sure that no one is on the system updating/adding information in the files of the company that is being backed up. All RCC windows should be closed, and not just minimized. A person in any RCC menu or function, even just inquiry, will cause an incomplete backup. An incomplete backup cannot be used to restore cleanly and should be redone.

When doing a backup, all files should be backed up, not just new or changed files. Incremental backups of RCC information cannot be properly restored back to the hard disk without a much more complicated restore procedure.

Each time a backup is done the tape should be overwritten. Backup sets should not be appended to one another on the tape. This can cause problems if a backup set needs to be restored.

Restoring information from tape

Under most conditions, call software support before restoring the data. Software support will verify restoring the data is the best option. Always write protect the tape before the restore process (contact software support if unsure how to write protect the tape). Before restoring you should also move the data to a temporary location on the hard drive. In most cases RCC support will do the restore with you. After the restore process is completed, change the write protection back to normal.

FAQ’s (Frequently asked questions)

Who is responsible for how my backup is setup?

Your hardware vendor is responsible for the setup and maintenance of your backup device. If RCC is your hardware vendor then we will set up your backups. If you purchased your computers from someone other than RCC, they are responsible for the setup and maintenance of your backup device. When you purchase hardware from a third party vendor, please contact RCC so that we can work with your hardware vendor to assure you have your backup process setup properly.

Why should I use a tape backup system? Something else would be less money.

Tape backups are still the most reliable method for backing up data that is: fast, portable and relatively fool-proof. New tape drives can backup several gigabytes of data in just minutes. Tapes can be moved to an offsite location very easily. Tape drive software is very clear about if a backup job was successful or not.

We have hit issues with other methods of backup. CD/DVD backups tend to fail often. The software may not be clear about the status of your backup onto disk. These disks also hold a very small amount of data compared to tapes. Portable/USB hard drives have a very high incidence of failure, especially when compared to tapes. A failing hard drive is not a safe place to store data. Moving USB hard drives to an offsite location further increases your chance of hard drive failure and data loss.

How many tapes should I have?

RCC recommends that you have ten sets of tapes actively in use. There may be more tapes that are in permanent storage (i.e. Year-end backup tapes that have been taken out of circulation.) Please read the proceeding questions and answer for a full explanation of how your tapes are to be used.

How should I label my backup tapes? Or What do the letters on my tape mean?

A backup set consists of one or more tapes that are created during the backup procedure. There are three types of backup sets; Daily, Weekly and Monthly. The Daily backups have four backup sets. Each Daily backup set should be labeled as follows: DA, DB, DC or DD. The Weekly backups have three backup sets. Each Weekly backup set should be labeled as follows: WA, WB or WC. The Monthly backups have three backup sets. Each Monthly backup set should be labeled as follows: MA, MB and MC. If any backup set uses more than one tape during the backup procedure the backup set should be labeled as follows: DA1, DA2, DA3 ... or DB1, DB2, DB3 ... or WA1, WA2, WA3... or MC1, MC2, MC3 ... . The date of purchase should be written on each tape label. Be sure to label each set of backups so that they do not get mixed up.

Which backup set should be used?

In most cases, the oldest daily backup set will be used to backup the data. One day a week, the oldest weekly backup set will be used in place of the daily backup set. For example, if a post is done once a day, the backup sets used are as follows: Monday use DA set, Tuesday use DB set, Wednesday use WA set, Thursday use DC set, Friday use DD set, Saturday use DA set, Monday use DB set, Tuesday use DC set, Wednesday use WB set, Thursday use DD set, Friday use DA set, Monday use DB set ... . When making a monthly backup, use the oldest monthly backup set in place of a daily or weekly backup set. The monthly backup set is used as follows: January use MA set, February use MB set, March use MC set, April use MA set, etc.

How do I keep track of when I did which backup on what tape?

(See attached backup log.)

The Backup Log Sheet is used to record when a backup set was made. When restoring the backup set, the information on the Backup Log Sheet will be needed to help ensure the restore process is done accurately. The following is an example of Backup Log Sheet.

Backup Log Sheet

				Backup Log Sheet
Month__January________________________

Date	Time	By	Set	Type of Backup		Last thing done/first thing to do
1-3	11:30	KFS	DA	Daily	Finished daily entry, just about to start post
1-4	4:15	SSP	DB	Daily	Printed stmts, backup before start post
1-5	1:00	SSP	WA	Full System	Backup just before end of day end process
1-6	4:40	KFS	DC	Daily	Backup before start of month end
1-7	12:00	KFS	DD	Daily	Backup just before stat of day end process

1-10	9:00	SSP	DA	Daily	Backup before year end process
1-11	3:45	SSP	DB	Daily	Backup before running stmts
1-12	8:30	KFS	WB	Full System	Before Electronic Transfer
1-13	4:00	KFS	DC	Daily	Backup before end of day process
1-14	3:30	SSP	DD	Daily	Backup before post

The DATE column is used to log the date the backup was made. The TIME column is used to log the time of day the backup was made. The BY column is used to log the initials of the person that made the backup. The person who made the backup might be able to give some valuable information in the event the backup set is needed. The SET column is used to log what backup set was used when the backup was made. The TYPE OF BACKUP column is used to log what type of backup when the backup was made. This will help in the restoring or listing of that backup set. The LAST THING DONE BEFORE BACKUP column is used to record the last thing done before the backup and other information you need to know in case of a future restore. This information determines what work was subsequently done and must be redone in the event of a restore.

How should I store my backup tapes?

All backup sets should be stored in a cool, dry place. Backup sets should NOT be stored near electronic transmitting devices (i.e. 2-way radio or television), magnets, moisture or heat. Moisture, heat and other extreme conditions can damage the tape and the data on them. The daily backup sets should be stored somewhere on-site (i.e. fire proof safe). The weekly and monthly backup sets should be stored off-site. A recommended off-site location is the office manager's home. (We’ll assume the manager lives a sufficient distance from the office.) The day after a weekly or monthly backup set is done (i.e. Thursday) the office manager would take home the new backup set. The next day the office manager will bring the oldest backup set from home for future use. The reason for storing backup sets off-site is in case of fire, tornado, flood, theft, or other catastrophes that could damage the backup sets and/or the computer at the office, even if stored in a fire proof safe. If a catastrophe occurs and the onsite sets are destroyed, replace the damaged parts and restore from one of the backup sets that were stored off-site. Because the weekly backup sets are stored off-site: best case, no information will be lost; on average, a half of a week of information will be lost; worst case, one week of information will be lost.

Why does the tape spin so much when I first insert it?

The retention of a tape is done automatically before each backup procedure is started. Retention of a tape is the physical rewinding of the tape on its spools. This verifies the tape is tightly wrapped around the tape's spools and helps ensure the integrity of the tape.

When should a tape be replaced?

When a tape has been determined to have a problem, the tape should be replaced. If a tape is having marginal problems, mark the tape label with the date the problem occurred. Replace the tape if there are more than one problem with that tape. The cost of lost information as a result of a bad tape far exceeds that of new tapes. (Many tape manufactures have a lifetime warranty on their tapes. See the manufacturer of the tape for more details.) Twice a year, at calendar and fiscal year-end, a backup set should be removed from the cycle and used as year-end backup sets. The first year-end backup should be a full backup at the end of the calendar year. The second year end backup should be a daily backup done before fiscal year end (if you use G/L). If you do not use G/L do the second backup at calendar year-end. An attempt should be made to use the two backup sets with the oldest dates of purchase as the year-end backups. New tapes should replace year-end backup set tapes. Be sure to label the new backup sets the same as those that were removed from the cycle. Year-end backups consist of two separate backups. The first type of year-end backup is a full system (a monthly backup). Completing the steps listed in the “Weekly/Monthly Backup Procedure” section of this memo does this backup. The second type of year-end backup is that of all users data (a daily backup). Completing the steps listed in “Daily Backup Procedure” section of this memo does this backup. Be sure to label the year-end backups. (For example; "2000 Year-End Full System" and "2000 Year-End All Users Data".) The year-end backups should be stored at the off-site location along with the weekly and monthly backups.

If you have backup questions that have not been answered, or would like someone to make certain your backups are working properly, please call RCC hardware support.

How Can I be certain a backup is good?

Tapes are very reliable and it is very rare to have a back error. Most backups are set to automatically verify themselves after a backup is completed. There is also a backup log made at the end of most backups. Please consult your vendor per the “Responsibilities” paragraph if you have further questions.

Backup Log Sheet

Month__________________________

Date	Time	By	Set	Type of Backup	Last thing done/First thing to do

Backup Log Sheet

DB

Backup just before stat of day end process