Article #214 How to Backup Solid Route Accounting

Answer: The information in the Solid Route Accounting™ business system is one of a company's most valuable assets. Transactions, customer accounts, amounts owing, and other information are irreplaceable if lost. Hence, it only makes sense to back up the system correctly so that the company data will remain safe if tragedy strikes. Solid recommends that backups be created on removable USB Flash Drives (aka Memory Stick or Thumb Drive) as they've proven to be a reliable backup solution that's durable and easy to handle. Ideally, a company should have five such USB Flash Drives and use a different one for each workday of the week to create a five-day chronology of the data.

NOTE: Other backup systems, such as an automatic backup system, can be used; however, be aware that Solid does not support these systems due to the many types of configurations for these systems. To restore data from such systems, the installer or manufacturer of that system should be contacted for assistance.

It's a good habit to perform system backups daily, preferably after the work period has ended. Once a backup has been created, the USB Flash Drive should be removed from the computer and stored in a safe place. Then, if anything happens to the computer, such as fire, theft, or electrical damage, the company's data will remain safe and can be easily restored. As USB Flash Drives are reused weekly, the newer backup automatically replaces the week-old backup so that the USB Flash Drive won't run out of space.

Enterprise Edition Users:

It's recommended that Daily Backups be performed daily and a Full Backup every week. Daily Backups save all the company's information, including customers, inventory, transactions, and so on, whereas a Full Backup also includes the program itself; however, it takes longer to complete.

1. Before performing a backup, ensure that all workstations and instances of Solid Fusion™ are closed.
2. Navigate on the computer to [START / Computer] to view all available drives on your computer. Plug the USB Flash Drive into the computer, and after a short install, it should show on this screen as its own drive under 'Devices with Removable Storage'. Copy down or remember its drive letter (such as 'E:').
3. In Solid Business Central™, begin the backup process to arrive at the Backup Configuration screen:
   1. Daily Backups can be performed by answering 'Yes' to the question when exiting Solid Business Central™, "Backup Now?", and also from within Solid Business Central at [System / Backup / Daily].
   2. Full Backups can only be performed by navigating in Solid Business Central to [System / Backup / Full].
4. On the Backup Configuration screen titled 'Solid Business Central Backup', ensure the 'Backup Disk Type' is set to 'Flash drive', and ensure the 'Backup Destination' is set to the drive letter of the USB Flash Drive ('E' from the above example). Use [CTRL+END] to continue.
5. On the next screen, where it asks, "Are you ready," use the [Enter] key to select 'Continue'.
6. On the following black screen, 'Step 1: Copying Backup File' indicates the backup is being copied onto the USB Flash Drive (this may take a while depending on the size of your company and if it's a smaller Daily or larger Full Backup).
   When this is completed, ignore 'Step 2: Releasing iomega Drive' as it's intended for those using Iomega Zip Disks instead of USB Flash Drives. As prompted, 'Press any key to continue ...'.
7. On 'Step 3: Final Step', 'Press any key to continue ...' once again to continue.
8. The program will then ask, "Did Backup report any errors?"
   The second line in the on-screen log should read, "No errors found".
   If so, use the [N] key on the keyboard to answer, "No, backup did not report any errors."
   The on-screen log should now read 'BACKUP has been completed… !'. Press any key to return to the Solid Business Central™ program.
9. The last step is to verify that the backup was completed successfully by returning to [START / Computer]. This time, open the USB Flash Drive listed under 'Devices with Removable Storage'. Here, there should be a backup file reflecting the backup type selected ('GMDAY-X' for a Daily Backup or 'GMFULL-Y' for a Full Backup, where X is the day of the week and Y is the month of the year). Right-click on this file and select 'Properties'. Verify that the 'Modified' date is today's date. If not, then the backup was not completed successfully.

Once the backup has been completed and confirmed, remove the USB Flash Drive, and store it in a safe place, preferably off-site or in a fireproof safe.