The more I work on the Asyma help desk the more I realize the importance of establishing good backup procedures. As the title of my blog states, Is your backup enough? Many of the clients I talk to have there Accpac data stored on a server where it is backed up on a regular basis. Think about a few of these questions for a minute: Is my main database and backup found on different computers or servers? If my main database became corrupt or damaged do I have a proper backup to restore from? Do I backup on a daily, weekly and monthly basis? Is my backup stored offsite or a different location? If you answered No to any of those questions, you have not established good backup procedures. Recently within the last month or two I have seen clients who have had their buildings burn down, databases corrupted, and insufficient backups to restore from. These problems have also resulted in a range of backup procedures, some saving the day and others doing absolutely nothing for the client. Ponder for a minute the following misconceptions on backup procedures: Just because your server backups your Accpac data, this does not mean you have a good backup procedure. This means that both your main database and backup are stored in the same location. Where would you be if your computer or server was to burn down or get damage in some way? Just because you backup on a daily basis, this does not mean you have a good backup procedure. Are you overwriting the backup each day? If so you could be overwriting it with corrupt data and would not have a good copy to restore from. Just because you use a tape or memory stick to backup, this does not mean you have a good backup procedure. You should have different tapes or memory sticks for each day of the week, one for the week and one for the month. These tapes should also be kept offsite. An improper backup procedure could be expensive to fix or may never be recoverable. I hope we will all pay more attention to establishing good backup procedures. Irwin Easthope, B.Mgt Consultant Asyma Systems Ltd.

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