Best security you can have for backups in my opinion is a small external
harddrive that does not live on site and is not connected to any servers.
If the database is active, bring it in once a week and download the backup.


i have always simply used space on my own little portable harddrive, but I
am also the only real user at my job. It has saved us TWICE from major
database crashes that erased all our data and images from the servers. I
was told before the crashes that I was being insanely paranoid.. even after
the first crash I was told oh no, the data is as safe as it possibly could
be with our server back ups...

Never believe it. When in doubt make another back up. An external drive can
be bought for under $100,  a small price to pay for such security.

On Tue, Mar 17, 2015 at 11:52 AM, Liza Schade <
[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Thanks for all this good info!
> I'm no expert on tech stuff by any means, but let me tell you about the
> lesson we just learned.
>
> Our server went down this past December and we had basically no shared
> drives and no PP5 for over two months. The tech people had to replace it,
> but the new one they installed didn't work and they told us not to use
> Drobo servers anymore. They are actually using us as an example to their
> future clients because of all the hassle-lol. I'm assuming they got a
> newer, different kind of server (sorry not sure what though).
>
> Once the new one was finally installed, they said they would only be able
> to recover the last backup from August. As I am in the middle of a full
> inventory, the thought of losing four months of work on PP5 was not a
> pretty thought. It was so hard putting exhibits together and doing
> inventory with just the paper files! I suppose our predecessors would laugh
> at that-lol.
>
> Anyway, they worked really hard and we're finally able to recover all our
> data on the server & on PP5 from December, right before the server went
> out. I'm so proud of those tech people! Now we can pretty much pick up
> where we left off when the server went down and I wont have to redo all the
> PP5 files.
> Moral of the story: Back up! Back up! Back up!
>
>  I'm going to ask our tech guy about the zip files though.
> Now that everything is shiny and new, I want to make sure we do it right
> from now on!
>
> Have a great day,
>
> Liza J. Schade
> Collections Manager
> Washington County Museum @
> PCC-Rock Creek campus
> 17677 NW Springville Rd.
> Portland, OR 97229
> Office: (503) 645-5353 ext. 225
>
>
> On Mar 17, 2015, at 5:45 AM, Rochelle Robinson <
> [log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> We've moved up to PP5, like Maria stated we've had no problems removing
> files over 3 months old. We too, back up weekly, but I remove dated backups
> quarterly. Plus, we also utilize and external backup as well, but with
> those, you have to make sure you rename the file or it will overwrite.
>
> Rochelle Robinson
> Exhibit Programs Director
> Exhibits Department
> AACA Museum Inc.
> 161 Museum Drive | Hershey, PA 17033
> Web: aacamuseum.org | Tele: 717.566.7100 x118
>
> On Thu, Mar 12, 2015 at 3:25 PM, Maria VanVreede <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
>> I backup PastPerfect on a weekly basis, and generally keep only about 6
>> months worth of backup files around at any given point (with some
>> exceptions).  I've never had a problem just going in and deleting the older
>> zipped files.
>>
>> From what I can tell, PastPerfect only lists the last 30 backups, even
>> though the backup log information goes all the way back to the first backup
>> the software performed.  In our case, the first backup was eons ago and I
>> know those files weren't saved, so the fact that the files are gone doesn't
>> seem to be causing any problems.
>>
>> With that said, the disclaimers are that we're still operating on
>> PastPerfect 4 and I'm neither affiliated with PastPerfect, nor a tech
>> expert, so there might be a problem/future problem I'm not aware of.  For
>> now, though, the process works.  Last year, we were able to use one of the
>> backups to restore Pastperfect after the whole program and related data
>> were deleted off the server accidentally.  I also feel have some reference
>> points of previous work, if we ever need to go back for some reason, but
>> the files aren't gobbling up tons of room on the server.
>>
>> Good luck!
>> Maria VanVreede
>> Collections Manager, National Model Aviation Museum
>> [log in to unmask]
>> ------------------------------
>> Date: Thu, 12 Mar 2015 10:24:33 -0700
>> From: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] PastPerfect Hard Drive Backups
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>
>>
>> We are having a similar problem, and I would love to hear any responses
>> to this. Our tech person has this on their perpetual to-deal with list.
>>
>> - Sarah
>>
>> *Sarah Frederick*
>>
>> *Collections Manager*
>>
>> Eastside Heritage Center
>>
>> P.O. Box 40535
>>
>> Bellevue, WA 98015
>>
>> Ph: (425) 450-1049
>>
>> Fax: (425) 450-1050
>>
>> www.eastsideheritagecenter.org
>>
>> www.BellevueStrawberryFestival.org
>> <http://www.bellevuestrawberryfestival.org/>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Mar 11, 2015 at 7:32 PM, Renee Pieschke <[log in to unmask]
>> > wrote:
>>
>> Hello all,
>>
>> For those of you that backup PastPerfect daily, do you ever run out of
>> space on your local hard drive? Is it safe to delete older backed up zip
>> files or will it disrupt PastPerfect's registry? Let me know.
>>
>> Renee Pieschke
>> Archivist
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> To unsubscribe from the MUSEUM-L list, click the following link:
>> http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-HOME.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1
>>
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> To unsubscribe from the MUSEUM-L list, click the following link:
>> http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-HOME.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1
>>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>> To unsubscribe from the MUSEUM-L list, click the following link:
>> http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-HOME.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1
>>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> To unsubscribe from the MUSEUM-L list, click the following link:
> http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-HOME.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> To unsubscribe from the MUSEUM-L list, click the following link:
> http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-HOME.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1
>

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).