If this is a new School, you have numerous issues to deal with in addition to setting up your Child Care software.
One thing that you MUST put on your TO-DO list (in bold letters) is:
PLAN AND IMPLEMENT YOUR DATA BACKUP STRATEGY
It is important to remember that computers in general (and personal workstations specifically) are prone to failures due to flaws in the underlying hardware or Operating system software. Such failures can cause data lose which can wipe out days, weeks, or even MONTHS worth of work in the blink of any eye. For this reason you MUST protect your data by backing it up regularly. A proper backup strategy can turn a disaster into nothing more than a temporary nuisance.
Fortunately, there is an automatic backup facility built right into SchoolLeader called DB-WATCH which will protect your SchoolLeader database for you with minimal effort. This process also performs regular maintenance and cleanup on the database to keep in healthy and performing at its optimal level. To learn more about this process refer to the chapter titled "DB-Watch Database Monitor".
To ensure your database is protected by DB-Watch you need to perform these steps:
Configure the backup process to run automatically when you start your computer. This is accomplished during the Installation of the software. At the end of the installation process you will be asked if you want to have DB-WATCH automatically start on the Server computer. You should always answer YES to this question unless you have alternative plans for ensuring the database is backed up regularly. If you have already installed the software and have answered NO to the question you should reinstall the software again.
Don't worry about your database if you have already started entering information. Reinstalling the software (or upgrading the software in the future) will never erase any data already entered. It will simply "freshen" up the software by reinstalling it again. This gives you the opportunity to answer the installation questions again and change the configuration you have on the Server.
With DB-Watch programmed to now run automatically, you will next need to configure your backup specifications to tell DB-Watch how and when to perform the backups. This is accomplished by using the DB-Support process. DB-Support performs many roles. One of those roles is to control how DB-Watch operates. Go to DB-Support and press the Define Backup Specifications button. To learn more about this process see the chapter titled "DB-Support - Define Backup Specifications"
Having backups performed every night is absolutely necessary to protect
you from hardware failures such as a Hard-Disk crash. However, this will
do you little good against disasters unless you take the backup disks
off-site with you on a regular basis. This protects you against such things
as
- Theft of the computer equipment
- Fire or other serious damage to the building
It is recommended that you have at least three backup disks which you rotate at least once a week as follows:
Disk 1 is always the active "Backup Disk" in the backup Drive ready to receive data
Disk 2 is always the "Off-site Disk" maintained in a safe place such as your home or another office location
Disk 3 is a "floater" disk which is either "in transit" between the two sites or sitting at the main computer location.
A good strategy for rotating the disks is as follows:
Every Friday evening remove the Disk 1-Backup Disk currently in the drive and take it home with you.
The current Disk 3-Floater should also already be in the office next to the computer. After removing the current Disk 1-Backup immediately insert Disk 3-Floater into the drive to become the new Disk 1-Backup.
When you arrive home that evening swap the current Disk 2-Offsite currently at your home with this new one you just arrived with.
At this point your backup process has been configured to run automatically
at the times you specify and to write the database to the "Removable"
disk drive you desire. However, there is one last step you need to perform.
You must monitor this process to ensure it CONTINUES WORKING. There are
many things that can interfere with an automatic backup process:
- The Backup disk can go bad
- The software can become corrupted
- The settings can accidently be changed to inadvertently disable
the process
For these reasons you should always "check in" on the process periodically to ensure it is still operating as it should. The worst time to find out your backup process is not working is when you need it!
Do not get complacent about this responsibility. You and YOU alone have to ensure your data is properly protected from disaster.