Back up planning

What would happen if, for any reason, everything was lost on the computer being used to operate Case Manager? This would obviously be a huge set back for any business.

There are several events that could make you lose some or all of your Case Manager database and files. Some examples are:

• a hardware failure
• a virus infecting the computer
• someone accidentally deleting the entire database file
• someone incorrectly deleting or modifying some of the information in the database
• a problem may occur during an upgrade or change process
• a fire occurring close to the location of the computer

The solution is to include a simple backup procedure as an essential part of your daily routine. Then if any of the above arise, the backup can be used to restore your system to the most recent version that was saved.

If your Case Manager database is hosted by Chameleon Software you do not need to read this page. We have already put best practice backup procedures in place for your system.

If not, please read on.

Larger companies usually have a database that is located on a network server. They have an IT administrator as part of their team and almost certainly the database undergoes a regular backup procedure. However, you should clarify this with your IT administrator. You should also suggest that Case Manager's batch utility (see below) is used to back up the database because it checks for integrity before compressing files and creating the backup file. If this is not done, the risk is that corrupt or damaged databases are backed up and they would cause problems should they ever be required.

Best practice recommendations for a backup plan are to consider:

• the backup medium to use
• the exact files and folders to backup
• the backup software to use
• how often backups are performed
• regular checks of your backup files
• the location where backups are stored
• documenting and testing your recovery plan

Back up medium

• The easiest method of backing up is to purchase an external drive. This means that you can backup your files without being present. The backup can be scheduled to occur automatically every night or as frequently as necessary.
• Another option is to backup to flash disks. Depending on the size of the flash disks, this may require you to be present and may involve a number of disks if you have a large database.
• Best practice is to use more than one set of backup drives or disks, and cycle through them. That way you will always have several backups if you need them.

For example you could have 2 external drives named Drive_1 and Drive_2 and swap them on alternate days or weeks. This helps in a disaster recovery (DR) scenario where one of the backups has become corrupt.

Files to back up

• Case Manager Database file(s)

Case Manager provides a utility to backup your database and create a .bak file. This file needs to be copied to an external location daily (ether via external drive, cloud ,etc).

The utility is a batch file located in the directory created during installation of Case Manager Software at \\<install_location>\backup. It can be scheduled to run after hours when this suits you by using a task scheduler.

The utility knows which files to backup and it checks the integrity of the database and compresses files before creating a backup copy in this same location. This ensures that you are backing up a healthy database file and not just a copy that might contain problems.

• Case Manager Document files

It's important to understand that the backup utility only backs up the Case Manager database. It does not back up linked documents files (Word, Excel, etc) that you have placed in Case Manager and are stored in the file sharing area of the system. You will need to perform a separate backup to copy the MainDB and DemoDB folders from the installation folders to an external location. We can create batch files for you to run this as a scheduled task if required.

Software

Windows Operating System software includes a backup utility. This software is ideal as it is easy to use and doesn't cost extra money. There are, however, commercial 3rd party applications available for purchase for businesses with a more specific requirement.

Frequency of back up

It is recommended that the Case Manager database has a backup performed every working day. By doing this, the maximum amount of work that could be possibly lost is one working day's worth.

Storing back ups

It is also essential to keep a set of recent backups in a different physical location from the computer. Backups aren’t of much use if they are destroyed in the same fire as the computer! Again, having two external drives is an advantage. One can be kept off site whilst one remains to perform a backup for a week. Alternate drives and location on a weekly basis.