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Archive for the ‘Disaster Recovery’ Category

Back It Up with Softdocs

Tuesday, April 17th, 2012

“Seventeen Years of Records Lost in Recent Flood”

Does this headline catch your eye like it did ours?

Last September, this is exactly where City Year—a local Columbia, SC non-profit that helps to keep students in school—found themselves, according to local news. Seventeen years of records destroyed, in a span of 24 hours.

Imagine if your institution’s only copy of student records, business documents, and other important files were lost in a flood or other natural disaster with no type of backup—years of information gone in just a few hours. How terrifying!

This is why our Records Conversion services are so important. All of our paperless solutions help to eliminate the possibility of lost records, but if your current paper documents are not electronically archived into the system, it could take years to transition a single department paperless. Maintaining two archives—one physical and one electronic—creates confusion and wastes employee time searching for documents.

Softdocs’ Records Conversion division converts archived documents, microfilm and microfiche into digital images that can be stored and retrieved within our enterprise content management solution, Doc e Scan.

Not only does this eliminate the need for filing cabinets full of paper, but the best part is that once all the documents are in Doc e Scan any document can be easily searched for, accessed, and reviewed by anyone with access to the system.

So, why can’t I scan and index our archived documents manually?

You can, and while many institutions without the extra time or manpower decide to let us take this big project off their plate, our Professional Services team can come in and train you on-site.

Whether you decide to do this yourself or have our Records Conversion division do it for you, Softdocs can empower your employees and bring efficiency to your institution by eliminating the hassle of paper-heavy business processes.

And hopefully sooner rather than later, you’ll be asking yourself, “How in the world did I ever find anything in those filing cabinets?” as you quickly and easily pull up a PO or student record on your monitor in seconds.

Click here for more information and details of our Records Conversion process or call Softdocs’ Records Conversion Manager, Patrick Daniel at 888.457.8879 x147.

Posted in Disaster Recovery, Service | No Comments »

Disaster Recovery: Restoring Your EMMA Application

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

For the final post in our disaster recovery series, our lead integration consultant Brad details the main components necessary for an EMMA backup.

EMMA (Employee Monitoring, Management and Attendance) has one mandatory backup section and one optional backup section.  The mandatory backup section is the SQL database.  As with Doc e Scan 3.0, there is only one database to back up.  This database holds all the information for EMMA to run correctly.  The information in the database includes, but is not limited to fingerprint information, employees, security, locations, departments, subgroup information, leave information and alerts.  For backup of this information, we recommend a SQL maintenance plan that will give a backup (.bak) file of the SQL server through automation, and then use a tape backup or other media storage separated from the physical hard drive of the server.

The optional backup is backing up the update folders for both the PC and ET versions of EMMA.  The versions are stored in separate folders under a shared root folder.  The shared root folder is typically named “EMMA” with the two folders named “PC” and “ET”.  The reason for this is that the versions have many differences in functionality.  For example, the PC version allows for data manipulation where the ET version only allows for clocking actions, viewing/approving clocking actions and creating vacation requests.  Backing up these folders on a separate media storage device is recommended every time the system is upgraded to a newer version of the software.

For more information on restoring EMMA or any of our Softdocs products, please contact Softdocs support.

Posted in Disaster Recovery, EMMA, Service, Support | No Comments »

Disaster Recovery: Restoring Your Doc e Serve Application

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

Our Doc e Serve Supervisor Kipp continues our disaster recovery series this week with tips and information on restoring Doc e Serve.

Like Doc e Scan, Doc e Serve needs two components for backup:  the file archive and system databases.  The file archive can be broken down into 3 sub categories: completed, pending and passthrough.  The completed files are the most important for a successful Doc e Serve backup.

Completed files are those that have been processed and delivered (by print, fax, email, etc.) through Doc e Serve and are used for reprints.  This category archives both the Job’s original data file and processed file.  Roughly 95% of our clients have a completed folder created for each Job type within Doc e Serve, which can be set to archive these files for anywhere from 0 days to forever.  However, some of our older Doc e Serve systems will only be able to save for up to 999 days.  To keep from losing any important files, the completed folders should be backed up at a minimum of every 2-3 months for recovery purposes.  Once Doc e Serve has purged the expired files, they will not be available for reprint without the original data file.

To find the completed folders, log into Doc e Serve, select a Job and click on either of the Completed Input or Completed Output buttons.  When selected, the top left screen will display a tree showing the location of the folder for the selected Job.  You can select different Jobs to find each of their completed Job folders.

The other items needed for Doc e Serve backup are the system databases.  The most important of these is named “Doc e Serve Info.mdb”, which houses all of the template information in one location. Other important databases include “Doc e Serve Log.mdb”, “Completed Jobs.mdb”, and “Job Template.mdb”.  All of these databases can be found in the “\Doc e Serve\System” folder.  Without one of these databases, Doc e Serve will not be able to run properly.

To guarantee that a database is not missed when backing up Doc e Serve, the entire system folder is recommended for backup.  By doing this, the backup will be able to restore the different graphics used on the templates. This process will also make a secondary backup of each Job template by backing up the DSI Files and Graphics folders.  The system folder should have a backup made at least once a month, though we recommend a full backup once a week in the case of a mid-month crash.

As long as the completed folders and the “Doc e Serve\System” folder are covered in the backup process, Doc e Serve will have all of the necessary files to recover from a crash.

For more information, please contact Softdocs support.

Posted in Disaster Recovery, Doc e Serve, FAQ, Service, Support | No Comments »

Disaster Recovery: Restoring Your Doc e Scan Application

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

Next in our disaster recovery series, support specialists Cory and Carl tell you what you’ll need to restore your Doc e Scan system.

At its simplest, Doc e Scan only requires two things for backup: the image warehouse and the databases.  The image warehouse is the store of all images catalogued or kept by Doc e Scan. This is usually on the server’s data drive and named for the Doc e Scan user institution.  A tape backup of this folder is all that is needed to backup the images.

The database backup is a little trickier. The databases hold all the filing information, search information, security and everything else that makes the image warehouse useful.  Without the database(s), you will only have a random assortment of images stored in a directory structure that is nearly impossible to navigate. If you are running Doc e Scan 3.0 or higher, there is only one database to backup, located on the SQL server. If you are running an earlier version, you will have multiple databases: Doc e Scan Master, Doc e Scan Log, and one database per room in (usually named by “Building-Room”).

It is recommended that you run SQL maintenance plans that will give you a backup (.bak) file of your SQL server through automation, and then use a tape backup to copy these to another machine.  There are also other 3rd party backup programs that will make a “correct” backup of SQL databases, but they do not always complete all the other maintenance items a SQL maintenance plan provides.

It is important to make sure these two backups are run simultaneously to eliminate any discrepancies between the image warehouse and the SQL databases. Otherwise a new image might be scanned into the image warehouse without any record of it in the database.  Backups should also be scheduled during times of least impact on users (usually nights or weekends). Both the image warehouse and the SQL database(s) are needed for Doc e Scan to function, so it is imperative that both are backed up regularly.

Want more information? Contact Softdocs support.

Posted in Disaster Recovery, Doc e Scan, Service, Support | No Comments »

Disaster Recovery: Restoring Your Doc e Fill Application

Wednesday, June 30th, 2010

This week, support specialist Greg takes you through the different components needed to restore your Doc e Fill system in the event of a disaster.

In preparation for disaster recovery, Doc e Fill has three directories that need to be backed up. Located on the server are code files, storage files and database tables. Each play different roles in recovering a lost system; however, each is essential for a complete application recovery.

The code files are the base of the program. They contain the functionality and cosmetics of Doc e Fill, as well as documentation and user manuals. All files are located in a single folder which, if restored properly, will provide complete program restoration. This folder is located in the www root folder connected directly to Internet Information Services.

The database tables play an equally important role. They contain customized data for each client, along with user information, names of form groups, locations, departments and most importantly, references to archived, pending and saved forms. This is located directly on the SQL server, and a complete backup will need to be configured through the MSSQL Configuration Manager. Without database recovery, the Doc e Fill application would need to be reconfigured and customized.

The storage files have a less significant responsibility, but are still required for full backup recovery. They do not determine or prevent any functionality within the program itself, but are used for archived, pending and saved documents. In addition, all forms associated with Doc e Fill are located here.  This folder is located in the Program Files directory on the server.

Complete recovery involves copying and replacing the two copied folders and a restoration of the single Doc e Fill database. Restoration is a simple process, but must be done manually.

Need more help? Contact Softdocs support.

Posted in Disaster Recovery, Doc e Fill, Service, Support | No Comments »

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