A tantalizing concept is a single universal backup solution which can cover all business critical data at any given site.
Consider a small function venue. All business activities are run off a single laptop. An external Hard Disk Drive is used as a backup device.
Data items consist of (a) an email client, used as a diary and contact list. (b) Images in JPG and GIF formats of venue layout and diagrams, as well as photos of previous events. Quotations for prospective clients are generated in (c) spreadsheets and invoicing and accounts done through (d) TurboCash accounting software. Incoming fax documents are stored in (e) PDF format. These are all non-commercial and/or open source software solutions readily available for download and used by millions of small businesses world wide.
MrBackup identifies this data as core data: mission critical data at the core of business activities.
In the event of a Thunderbird email client, this data will be hidden in a Windows system ‘user application data folder’, with a .default file extension. The email data files are not readily visible and can only be safely copy&pasted once the email client is closed.
The image files are bulky, but easily copy&pasted from one location to another.
The Spreadsheets are equally easy to copy&paste from one location to another.
The TurboCash data presents a more specific problem. The Firebird SQL database on which TurboCash runs can not readily be copy&pasted from one location to another. SQL data requires special consideration. This has been discussed elsewhere on this site. If the correct unmount procedure is not followed, it may lead to both corruption of the live data, as well as an faulty backup – destroying both the operational database as well as the backup in one go!
The most obvious backup solution would be to simply copy&paste the image files, spreadsheets and PDFs from one location to another. What to do with the email data and the accounting system?
The email application should first be stopped, then the folder browsed after which the data files can be safely copy&pasted to the backup location.
TurboCash should also be stopped. But here additional requirements apply, as the Firebird SQL database may still continue running after the initiating application has been closed. This is one reason why a computer shutdown must never be forced: a forced Windows shutdown may result in corruption of the SQL database. Windows is waiting for the SQL engine to finish its transactions and by forcing the shutdown, the SQL engine is not allowed sufficient time to complete its activities.
There are of course two options:
- use TurboCash to backup the bookset data
- do a native Firebird backup
Only after the TurboCash application has been closed can a backup of the Firebird SQL data be attempted. Additional technical skills may be required to initiate the gbak application. Interestingly, the Firebird pages that deal with the gbak utility contain the following warning: “Warning
This method of calling gbak will make a backup of the database. If your database is large, this can take some time to complete and the backup file specified will be overwritten if it already exists. Beware.”
In either event, an on-disk file has now been created which contains the content of the Firebird SQL database. Effectively this is only the first step of the database backup process – the data remains on the host computer. The second step is now to locate this file on the computer hard drive and then copy&paste the file to the backup location.
To summarize, we see that
- images and spreadsheets and PDFs can easily be copy&pasted (data items b,c,e)
- email client data can only be copy&pasted once the email client is closed, and these files are normally hidden from view (data item a)
- SQL data requires at least two steps to backup: close the relevant application and backup the data from the SQL engine, then proceed to copy&paste the on-disk file (data item d)
In this example, at least three different user activities are required, which require increasing levels of confidence and skill in using the system’s resources.
The only common activity is the copy&pasted of the on-disk files to the backup location.
The other activities tend to be application specific, and often unique to that application.
In addition to the sound knowledge base required to achieve success in this scenario, it should also be clear that a single backup solution to backup all these different file types may be unavailable. Unavailability should be understood in a broad sense and may include aspects such as technical incompatibility, high implementation or maintenance cost, competent human resources and others.
In the event that a single suitable backup solution does not present itself, the only conclusion to be drawn is that at least three different backup solutions are required in this scenario.
In the event that a single suitable backup solution is found, it is recommended that separate additional backup solutions be maintained. At least two distinct backup solutions should be in place for each identifiable data item.
Click here to read about rainbow backups
Click here to read about the Firebird gbak utility