Ideal Online Documentation

29173 GENERAL SYSTEM GUIDE ROUTINE PROCEDURES
GS8-01 Backups

 

PURPOSE

 

This article outlines the recommended backup procedures for UNIX systems.

 

 

PROCEDURE

 

Have your hardware system provider set up a "cron" job so that your backup system performs automatically each evening or early morning at an appropriate time. The backups should be configured so that either a backup status message is emailed to the system administrator or a hard copy of the backup log is printed.

 

Backup the entire computer system, not just your Ideal system data files and programs.

 

On a UNIX system, use the "tar" format for your backups rather than the "cpio" format. We recommend strongly that you use backup software with disaster recovery logic (such as Microlite Edge).

 

Perform the tar format backup so that all directories and files start with a "./" at the front. Doing this enables you to restore your backup data into another subdirectory if needed.

 

Rotate the backup tapes, for example:

 

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday #1  Falls between the 1st and 7th day of the month.

Friday #2  Falls between the 8th and 14th day of the month.

Friday #3  Falls between the 15th and 21st day of the month.

Friday #4  Falls between the 22nd and 28th day of the month.

Monthly #1 At the end of calendar months 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11.

Monthly #2 At the end of calendar months 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12.

 

The appropriate monthly tape is used in place of whichever tape would normally have been used on that particular day (Monday through Thursday, or Friday #4). Monthly backups might be done on either the last calendar day of the month or just prior to performing your inventory and accounts receivable month.