RezOvation - Guest Management Software and Online Reservations

What can I do to make sure that my data is protected do that I don't lose my hard work?

Overview
This page discusses backing-up and the use of a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Source) to protect your computer/data in the case of a power outage, computer crash, etc. A number of Guest Tracker users have called for help after having lightning strikes, power outages, computer crashes, or other unexpected circumstances and Guest Tracker is now giving them errors that they can't seem resolve. THIS DOES HAPPEN, EVEN IF YOU HAVE NOT EXPERIENCED IT YET!! If Guest Tracker is running and you experience a crash like this, your database could become damaged beyond repair. This is a fact of the technology and computer age. THE BEST WAY TO PROTECT YOURSELF IS TO BACK-UP YOUR GUEST TRACKER DATABASE ON A REGULAR BASIS USING THE FOLLOWING POLICIES. Don't wait until you start having problems to begin backing-up your database! BACKING-UP TO THE SAME FLOPPY DISK EVERY DAY IS NOT AN EFFECTIVE BACK-UP POLICY!! IF YOU BACK-UP TO THE SAME FLOPPY DISK EVERYDAY, PLEASE READ THIS PAGE. If you use more than two disks to back up to, please consider changing to a Zip or CD-RW drive to store your backups. Guest Tracker recommends the same policies when backing up to Zip drives or CD-RW drives. Steps to back-up to Zip or CD-RW drives may be found HERE.
Back-Up Policies
You can find the following information in Chapter 11 in the Guest Tracker Users Guide.
As mentioned above, backing up is crucial to protecting your data. Many of the people who have called for help in this situation have only one floppy disk which they back-up to every day. Floppy disks are a cheap medium and are not meant to handle that kind of frequent activity. Often times this will create bad sectors on the floppy disk which makes the information on the disk impossible to retrieve. A computer will often be able to write to a bad floppy disk without any errors, BUT the computer CANNOT read from a bad floppy disk! Backing-up to the same disk every day could be giving you a false sense of security. The solution to this problem is to have multiple back-up disks as described below.
1.)	Label 7 floppy disks, one with each day of the week.
2.)	Label 5 additional floppy disks with your favorite day and "Weekly 1 - 5" as in the following example (we'll use Monday as our favorite day). i.e. "Monday, Weekly - 1" to "Monday, Weekly - 5".
3.)	Label 2 additional floppy disks "Off-Site 1" and "Off-Site 2"
4.)	At a convenient time each day, perform a Guest Tracker Back-Up onto the appropriate floppy for that day using the disks from step 1. On your favorite day, also do a backup to the disk number that corresponds to the current week of the month (using the disks from step 2). Once a month, backup to one of the Off-Site floppies and take that disk to a safety deposit box or some other location in the case of a natural disaster or theft. This back-up policy is recommended for maximum data security. If you follow this backup policy religiously, you should never lose your entire database. You will always have the past 7 working days, plus a weekly snapshot from each week for the past month, and finally an additional off-site copy. Your database of information is a very valuable asset and the ONLY insurance policy available is your dedication to frequent and consistent back-ups. ITEMS TO NOTE: As your database grows, the back-up program may ask for more than one disk. When this happens, you will need an extra disk for each and every back-up disk you are currently using. This means you will need twice as many disks as is described above. DO NOT use the same 2nd disk for every day. Once your database begins taking more than one disk, you may want to implement a more robust back-up policy like a tape drive, Zip drive, or rewritable CD drive. These devices will back up larger quantities of information and are usually more reliable than floppy disks. Steps to back-up to Zip or CD may be found HERE. FILES TO BACKUP: The files that get backed-up by the Guest Tracker Backup program are the database, usually named Tracker.MDB, which is usually located in the Tracker folder and the Letters and Reports sub-folders which are located in the same folder as the database. If you use another back-up policy, these are the files/folders you will need to back-up.
Starting the Guest Tracker Backup program
Guest Tracker has a Preference that, if set, prompts you to back-up when you exit Guest Tracker. This preference is set by default but can be turned off as an option. If you do not get prompted to back-up when you exit Guest Tracker and you would like to, you'll find this option under the Admin tab in Preferences. You can also start the back-up program from Windows by clicking on the Start button, then Programs, then Guest Tracker, then Guest Tracker Backup. The backup icon looks like a safe. In Windows 3.x, you will see the Guest Tracker Backup icon in the Guest Tracker program group.
UPS - Uninterruptible Power Supplies
A UPS helps protect your computer's hardware and software from power supply problems. Power problems are the biggest cause of data loss and computer problems. The following is a list of the most common power problems as listed in APC's Solutions Guide (APC is the brand of UPS that is used at the RezOvation office. They are the major manufacturer of UPS's): Sags. A sag is a short term decrease in voltage levels. This is the most common power problem. Blackout. A blackout is a total loss of power. Spike. A spike, or an impulse, is an instantaneous, dramatic increase in voltage. A spike can enter electronic equipment through AC, network serial or phone lines and damage or completely destroy computer components. Surge. A surge is a short term increase in voltage, typically lasting at least 1/120 of a second. Noise. Electro-Magnetic Interference and Radio Frequency Interference. Disruptions in the typical power supply. Computers and electronic equipment are very, very sensitive to these problems and many times you may not even notice they are happening or causing problems until it's too late. If you experience one or more of these problems while you are using Guest Tracker, you run the risk of damaging your database and possibly losing information. A UPS will protect you from these situations. It will keep the power that runs your computer steady and in the case of a complete power outage, the UPS will keep your computer running for up to 20 minutes so that you can finish what you are doing and shut down the computer properly. RezOvation highly recommends that you have a UPS on every computer that you use Guest Tracker on and suggests you have a UPS on every computer that you use regularly. These devices are an excellent way to protect yourself from computer hardware and software problems. NOTE: If you use a Local Area Network, you should have a UPS on every machine, the server AND the network hub (if present), NOT JUST THE SERVER. Visit APC's (American Power Conversion) website (http://www.apc.com/) for more information on Uninterruptible Power Supplies and the size of UPS that is appropriate for your computer. Typically, you can buy a UPS at your local retail computer store.