TECH: Backing up circ system data

[Doyle_Tony <tdoyle@MUHSD.K12.CA.US>]

Unfortunately I don't have any specific help for Michelle but disasters like
hers should serve as a warning to all of us to look over our own back up
procedures.  Summer is the ideal time to do this.

Based on the experiences of other librarians in our distirct and advice from
vendors and others, we have developed a redundant system of back-ups.
1. daily (Mon- Fri), tape back up of the server. We use a ten tape rotation
because our district tech person has found that back up problems can go
undetected for days before a crash.  The tapes are kept in a fire-proof safe
in the main office.
2. daily circ system back up to a local hard drive.  The tape back up does
not always fully restore the circ system (I don't know why, but a sister
school found out the hard way).
3. a CD back up of all circ system data files.  This is updated every time a
new order is added to the collection.  The main purpose of this is to back
up the MaRC records.  If all data is lost the MaRC record will be the most
difficult and labor intensive to replace (patron data is easily generated
from the SASI system and most books will be returned even if circulation
data is lost).
4. store all program disks and manuals in a safe place.  These can easily be
replaced by the vendor or borrowed from another school.
5. maintain service agreements with the vendor.  It is worth the money.
Follett has always been there when we needed them for tech support.

So far we have not had a catastrophic sytem crash (knock on wood) but I
think we are prepared should one occur.

----
Tony Doyle, Librarian
Livingston High School, Livingston, CA
tdoyle@muhsd.k12.ca.us
<Http://www.lhs.muhsd.k12.ca.us/html/lhslibrary/lhslib.htm>
"Outside of a dog a book is a man's best friend.
Inside of a dog it's too dark to read."-- Groucho Marx

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