Backup Principles

This support notes are suitable for:

• ABSS Accounting
• ABSS Premier

Introduction

Because ABSS is your company's accounting package, the system holds valuable information that is critical to the day to day running of your business. This can include customer details, supplier details, invoices, bills and so on. Can you imagine if one day you had a critical incident and the data file was damaged so badly that you could never use it again? This is why a backup procedure is so important.

What is a backup and why is it necessary?

Backup is the copying of your computer generated data file(s) to disk, magnetic tape or some other form of storage device, separate from your computer system. Backups are necessary as they provide a working copy of your data that can be reloaded into your machine in case the original copy stored on your computer becomes damaged or corrupted. Data corruption can occur in numerous ways: viruses, power failures, power spikes (these are sometimes not even noticeable), system crashes, external damage such as fire or theft, or simply user error.

Backups are also important for the purpose of retaining historical records and the ability to access information from previous financial years. For example, it may be necessary to reprint an employees Payment Summary for a previous year.

How and when you backup depends largely on your business and how often you update your data file(s). The bottom line is: what do you consider your business is worth, and what price do you put on maintaining accurate and complete records?

If you consider that your ABSS Accounting or ABSS Premier data file is too important to lose, or that it would be costly to replace, then you must backup regularly. In fact you should verify and backup your data file at the end of every session. Back it up to a removable media such as floppy disk or CD-ROM or ZIP disk, so it can be stored away from the computer itself. Because CD-ROMs and ZIP Disks have more capacity and are more reliable than floppy disks, they are a much better option.

How do I save data before exiting ABSS?

Because all current versions of ABSS Accounting software are real time applications, they do not have a Save. A real time application means that any data entered is immediately written to the hard disk when you press Record or OK to any new data such as a sale or a customer card.

How often should I backup?

How often you backup depends largely on the value you place on the information to your business‘ viability, and the cost of replacing and/or recreating it in the event of loss.

For users opening and updating their data files every day, our recommendation is to set aside a disk for each day of the week labelled MONDAY, TUESDAY, and so on through to FRIDAY. Use each disk on the nominated day, and at the file name prompt during backup, change the file name from MonthDay.ZIP to the day of the week. For example, MON.ZIP, TUES.ZIP and so on. Thus Monday's backup will be on the disk labelled MONDAY, and the file name will be MON.ZIP.

After one cycle (or week), when you next enter the backup file name, the system will prompt you to overwrite the previous week's file. By responding <YES>, you are automatically putting in place a 5-day cyclical backup regime.

What is being Backed Up?

The ABSS product range offers two options:

• Backup of all data
• Backup of Company File only

For information on the differences between these and more detail on the backup and restore process please refer to Support Note Backup and Restore Windows.

Terminology

Rotational Backup refers to rotating a set of disks for backing up in a set period. This might be a different backup disk for each day of the week. Monday's backup is on Monday disk, Tuesdays? On Tuesday disk, etc. If you feel you are not using ABSS that frequently then you might rotate disks on a weekly basis. Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4 and then back to Week 1 again.

Archival Backup refers to taking a copy and placing it in a safe place never to be copied over again. Archival Backups are essential at the end of each month and year. This means you will have a lanuary Backup, a February Backup, etc. as well as a 1991 Backup, 1992 Backup, and so on. Your End of Year Backup must be done prior to rolling over your financial year in ABSS

A complete backup involves backing up the whole data file. The ABSS provided backup procedure employs this method. It ensures you have a full copy of your data file after each backup.

The final form of backup is paper copy. You should always print out and correctly store the necessary end of month and end of year reports as well as the occasional reports showing customers, vendors, accounts, and so on.

How do I check to see if the backup worked?

Many users believe that because they have run a backup that it has worked. This is not necessarily the case as many other factors can affect the success of the backup. There are many stories of users finding out that their backup procedure has been failing only when they suddenly need to restore.

You should regularly test the backup tape or disk to ensure the data has been successfully backing up and that it can be readily accessed and restored when required. It is good to become confident with the process of restoring. This should be a mandatory exercise especially after any upgrades or changes are made to your system, such as application, hardware or system upgrades, and so on.

Don‘t leave knowing how to recover your files until the time you actually need to do it. Familiarize yourself with the process, and include the instructions in your procedure manual. As mentioned above, ABSS Australia has a Support Note providing detailed instructions on the backup/restore functions.

Where should I store my backup disks?

Backup disks or cartridges should always be stored in a safe and secure place. They should be stored out of the sun and away from magnetic fields. A fire safe is ideal. Sometimes it is necessary to consider storing backups off site, particularly key backups such as end of month or end of year archival backups. This way, if a fire or natural disaster causes damage you will still have a backup. The backup is useless if you cannot access it when needed, or if it is destroyed or stolen with the computer. Your applications and hardware are easily replaced. Your individual/company information is not unless you have backups.

A final note on backups

Backups are essentially to save you time and peace of mind if anything should happen to your data files. This data is necessary for successful and efficient operation of your business and should be treated as an important asset of great value.

Should you get any type of error message or system failure in ABSS take an extra separate backup without copying over any other backups and, if you are a Cover member, contact the ABSS support team.