A local database is an application database that is accessible from the workstation computer. In the workstation login table, you leave the Server and Database Group fields empty for local databases. Local databases are accessible in the workstation computer's directory space, meaning they can be on any disk typically accessible from the workstation using a file explorer, possibly including disks on other computers.
A remote application database is on a separate computer managed by a NewViews server which we will refer to simply as the cloud. We assume that you do not have direct access to the database files or directory systems in the cloud. In the workstation login table, you set the Server and Database Group fields to specify cloud computers.
A database that NewViews currently has open is referred to as a hot database, and backing up such an open database is referred to as a hot backup. Databases not open by NewViews can be similarly referred to as cold databases.
We use the term catastrophic failure to describe a complete loss of a computer and everything on it, and perhaps the total destruction by fire of an entire building site, housing many computers. Such a loss could also be caused by theft, vandalism, or a serious disk hardware failure. The point concerning backups is that you don't want to keep an active database and all of its backups at one site where all could be lost due to such a catastrophic failure. The solution is to keep backup copies on other computers or external drives, and these should be off-site, i.e. at separate physical locations.
All NV2 backup operations described in this section either run successfully to completion, or else no permanent files are affected. All backup operations act on temporary files and permanent files are created or replaced only if an operation completes successfully. On any failure, temporary files are discarded and no permanent files are affected. NewViews uses the file extension .tmp for temporary files.