Keeping in Touch
Getting the Most from Your Sage MAS 90 / 200 Investment
April 2009, Issue 17 |
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Prior Newsletters
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| Greetings! |
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Spring is finally here. Let's hope we don't get any more snow. I have had enough of the cold and snow!
The focus of this edition of Keeping in Touch is about Disaster Recovery Planning, or more plainly, 'are you backing up?'
Starport Consulting, one of our strategic business partners, has contributed to this month's newsletter with an article on Disaster Recovery Planning. We have worked with Starport for many years; our clients who have worked with Starport have been very pleased with their knowledge and attention to customer service.
Please check out their website to learn more about their IT infrastructure services. |
| Backup or a Quick Copy |
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After reading Brian's article below, you'll realize that there is much more to safeguarding your data than making a quick copy to a portable hard drive or inserting the same tape that you've been using for years.
But, just as important, is making a temporary/quick copy of your data before running some utility-type functions in your Sage MAS 90 / 200 system. For example, if you are running a Customer Delete/Merge function, it takes no time at all to make a copy of your MAS_xxx folder (where xxx is your 3 letter company code) and put it somewhere safe 'just in case'. Within the last 4 weeks alone, we received two panic emails from clients where they had merged or deleted customers unintentionally -- in one case, there was considerable panic when it was discovered that the tape backup unit couldn't read the backup tape; in the other case, the problem wasn't discovered until a week later and then they realized that the tape had failed on the one day that they needed!
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| Disaster Recovery Planning |
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Could your organization be exposed to any or all of these threats?
- Break and enter
- Vandalism
- IT equipment failure
- Outside attack via the internet by a hacker
- Building gas leak, flood or fire making accessibility to offices impossible
Disasters can occur in many forms... usually when your organization is least prepared and most vulnerable...that's why Murphy's Law exists.
With the increased use of technology for business critical functions, combined with a transition to an around-the-clock economy, the importance of protecting your data and IT infrastructure has moved from a luxury to a necessity.
So how should you protect your business? The protection of your critical business data starts with a disaster recovery plan.
So what should you do? You should conduct Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP) - a vital business process that no organization should overlook or be without. Disaster Recovery Planning should ideally be conducted with the assistance of a trained professional; someone who can help you understand the options and associated costs and trade-offs involved in the development and implementation of a strategy tailored to the needs of your business (and budget).
Once this process is documented and complete, it should be tested to ensure the plan works as intended. The following is a list of the most common strategies for data protection:
- Backups made to tape and rotated off-site at regular intervals
- Backups made to disk on-site and automatically copied to off-site disk
- Backup of data to an off-site location in real-time, which overcomes the need to restore the data
- Redundant systems operating off-site enabling continuous access to systems and data
In addition to preparing for the need to recover systems, your business should also implement precautionary measures with the objective of preventing a disaster situation in the first place. These may include:
- Disk protection technology (such as RAID, SAN or NAS)
- Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and/or backup generator
- Fire preventions - alarms, fire extinguishers
- Network Firewalls, anti-virus software and other security measures
Your business should have a customized disaster recovery plan, so the lists above are only intended to provide an idea of what the range of possibilities are. If you have questions about your disaster recovery readiness, or if you would like assistance in developing, reviewing, implementing or testing such a disaster recovery plan, please contact Robert White or Brian Everest. |
| What MAS Files to Backup? |
In my opinion, the entire MAS90 folder should be backed-up in full each night. Some IT guys like to do a differential or incremental backup -- I am so opposed to this. What good is tape 1, 2, and 4, if tape 3 fails?
As a minimum, the company data folders should be backed-up each night. If you are using Sage MAS 90 / 200 v4.0 or higher, then all of your company data is stored in the MAS_xxx folder (where xxx is your 3 letter company code). If you have any custom reports, you'll want to make sure you backup the Reports folder, too. If you want to keep the files containing the list of users, security settings, custom modifications, and tax settings safe, then you'll want to backup the MAS_System folder. I could add a number of other folders, too, that are just as important, but why bother. Just backup the entire MAS90 folder and you won't have to worry about it. Disk space is cheap -- so backup up data, programs, everything!
Are you using the new Paperless Office functions? If so, then you have been creating lots of PDF documents which are considered 'audit trail' reports. In the old days, you would print these to paper and file them away -- now, they are being stored electronically. Are these being backed-up? They are usually not stored under the MAS90 folder, so just backing up the MAS90 folder may not be enough.
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| What Good is a Plan . . . |
What good is a plan, if you don't test it out. Ask your IT guy to restore a file from yesterday's backup (let's say the GL_Account.m4t file, for example). Ask him to restore this file and email it to you. If he can't, then you should jump and scream until he gets it right. Your data is too important to leave to chance.
Keeping your backup tapes beside the server does not make sense. If your building goes up in flames, you've lost your server and your backup tapes. Take them home if you have to!
"I don't do a full backup because it takes too long. I only do it on the weekend." What? If the backup takes that long, then you're using the wrong technology!
Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now.
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We look forward to your feedback and your ideas for future issues of our newsletter. If you would like to contribute an article to a future newsletter, we'd love to have your contribution. Please let us know how we can help you Get the Most from Your Sage MAS 90 / 200 Investment.
Sincerely,
Shabnam and Robert |
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