The documentation provided on backing up provides the mechanics of various ways NewViews enables you to create backups and also how NewViews automatically creates backups under various circumstances. But what you need, as the administrator of one or more databases, is a backup policy that effectively uses the available backup tools to ensure data security for your databases. We address that issue up front so that you can weigh the relative importance of the various backup tools, and concentrate on those most important to your circumstances.
We will assume that you are the administrator of a number of databases offered by a cloud to which you do not have direct access. Here are some hopefully helpful basic guidelines to follow and relevant points to consider.
Decide who will manage backups for each database.
You, as the administrator might take on this responsibility directly, or you may instead delegate this responsibility to a particular user of each database, whom we will refer to as the backup manager for that database. Backing up a cloud database entails issuing the File>Download command while the database is open on a workstation. So the backup manager must be a user of the database. The backup manager must also have permission to download the database and such permission as controlled by the File Download field of the user's options. As the administrator of the database, you can set this user option for the designated back manager (or managers).
Establish a backup routine.
We recommend downloading a backup at least once per day. Good times to download the daily backup are just before or just after regular office hours. Keep in mind that the database being downloaded is open and can continue to be accessed by other users as the download proceeds. See File>Download for details.
Take downloaded backups off-site.
As the workstation and the cloud are on different computers, you have already taken the first step to protecting against a catestrophic failure. The loss of a single computer will not result in the loss of data entered prior to the latest backup. However, the workstation and cloud may be at the same physical site, say within the same building or campus, and in that case a fire, natural disaster, or act of vandalism could destroy both computers, and thus all copies of the database. Therefore it is important that downloaded backup copies be copied to an external drive and taken to a secure off-site location.
Picking download folders on the workstation.
When downloading a database you are prompted to specify a target folder anywhere in the workstation's directory space. You can use the same folder for all databases, or use a separate folder for each database. We have no preference. Previous folder selections are available in a pick box and downloaded file names are automatically generated to help identify the database, and also to guarantee not to overwrite previous backups.
Clean up the download folder.
Each backup creates a new copy of the database in the download folder (old copies are never overwritten by a download). However, especially for large databases, a daily backup will eventually consume your workstation disk capacity. You should keep as many backup copies as is reasonable considering the workstation and off-site disk capacities, and from time to time delete older copies as necessary.
Backing up seldomly used databases.
Some NewViews users manage many different databases but access them only intermittently. The individual databases are typically smaller in size than the central database for an ongoing concern. What generally happens is that each such database lies dormant most of the time, and then from time to time, the database is opened and a flurry of work is performed. In this case we recommend that you download a backup and take it off site after each such burst of activity.
Automatic overnight, logout and version change backups.
NewViews automatically creates backups under several different circumstances. See automatic Overnight Backups, Automatic Logout Backups, and Autotmatic Version Change Backups for details on these backups. These automatic backups are created as a last line of defence against lost data caused by inadequate user backup regimens. You must create and follow a comprehensive download backup routine and never rely on these automatic backups to protect your data. The automatic backups are created on the cloud computer so they are generally not available to you directly, and being on the same cloud computer as the active database, they cannot protect you from a catestrophic failure of that cloud computer.