Skip to main content.
Index | Support | Documentation | FAQ

Remote backups

How Do I .... Backup my Laptop (or spare server)

You may have a laptop that is used for Farm work, lockup surgery etc. or an old machine used for historic data Verifac, PracticeMaster etc. or a 'StandBy' server in case the main server fails. In all these situations you still need to backup it up periodically. How?

We will split the operation into two:

The reason for the split - in most cases you will have an up-to-date copy of the Premvet data on the main server which is backed up every night anyway. If the remote machine dies, once the basic OS is re-loaded the data can be copied over again. The basic 'OS restore' can be done using floppies, CD or DVD and you do not have to worry about the amount of space (and time) the practice data take up.

The 1st solution will be to backup to a CD Re-Writer or DVD. This will generate a CD/DVD that can be used to startup the laptop, restore the Operating System without using floppies or re-installing from scratch. DVD/CD's are longer lasting, faster and less likely to fail than boot floppies.

The 2nd solution is to create a set of 'Root/Boot' floppies and then backup everything to a Tape Drive on the main server. This will be the case if you do not have a CD/DVD re-writer installed.

The 3rd option is just how to backup data to the remote tape drive. This will be for periodic copies of the data.

We recommend the basic OS should be backed up every 3/4 months or immediately if any changes have been made to the configuration. If the Laptop is holding a copy of Premvet being cross updated (or historic data that is not changing) then a monthly backup thereafter will suffice. Otherwise backup more frequently. If anything happens to the Laptop/Remote then you will only be able to 'get back' what is on the last backup tape.

In the situation where you are using Cross Updating to keep the Laptop updated - yes you have a copy of the main client information on the server BUT there are some files that contain branch specific information e.g. Sales figures, Auto Pricing/Stock usage figures etc. these are ONLY stored on the Laptop - they are NOT cross updated. If the Laptop was to die these figures would be lost.

Periodic backup's of the Laptop are necessary.

In all the solutions below there are three basic requirements:

Solution 1a - Creating a Bootable DVD to restore everything

DVD's hold up to 4.7 Gb (about 8 times as much as a CD) so you can backup everything to DVD - this is the main difference to 1b below.

Check that the DVD disk you use are 'Removable', in general Laptop's need the 'basic' disk and the DVD cartridge used by most DVD writers will not fit. In our case we use Type 1 Removable DVD's allowing the DVD to be removed from the cradle and transferred to the laptop.

Use RE2 (EdgeMenu - Admin - Make Recoveredge media) on the machine you are wanting to backup e.g. laptop - to create a Recovery Media - Select CD/DVD Image for Bootable Backup. You only need to do this once (or when the configuration changes).

Select Backup -> Full Unscheduled Backup as per below

Once it has finished test the DVD as below.

Solution 1b - Creating a Bootable CD to restore the basic OS to the Laptop.

This is similar to the DVD option above except it will write a CD rather than DVD.

Start Edgemenu and run a full Unscheduled Full backup as below

Once it has finished test the CD as below.

Solution 2 - Root/Boot floppies and Tape backup.

In this situation you do not have a DVD or CD writer but you do have a tape drive in the server. We will create a set of floppies these will be used if we need to restore the laptop after a hardware failure. The floppies contain enough information to allow the laptop to 'talk' to the server with the tape drive and use that for the rest of the restore.

Full step by step instructions are given in the BackupEdge SS manual.

Once you have the floppies test then as below and then you can backup to a remote tape drive as per Solution 3.

Testing the Recovery media

Once you have created recovery media, whether it is a CD, DVD or floppies you should always test them. This ensures the system is capable of using them and that it is possible to access the archive media.

Solution 3 - Backup to a remote tape drive.

Here we are not interested in creating any recovery media, we just want to copy what is on the laptop onto tape. You would use this to periodically copy Premvet (or historic data e.g. PracticeMaster etc). This will be used to restore the client data should it be required. The procedure is:

Using Edgemenu to backup over the network

Start up edgemenu (Login as root and type edgemenu)

If the default resource (see lower half of the screen) 

Primary Resource:  xanth:tape!drive0 (/dev/rStp0) HP DDS4

does not show the correct device on the remote server then:

Select Backup -> Unscheduled Full backup

Press Return to accept 'Execute Backup'

Label the tape and put to one side until needed or a new backup is made. Make sure you do not get the server backup tapes mixed up with the laptop ones.

It is NOT a good idea to schedule 'unattended' backup's of the laptop as these may clash with the unattended backup's on the server - you can only store one set of data at a time - one may over-write the other. You are best to manually backup - this will NOT affect the data on the main server - people can still use that and not affect the procedure.