How to do a backup


These steps are accurate as of January 16, 2015.

It is the recommendation of Foundation Systems, Inc. that every pharmacy does a backup every night on-site. This would be in addition to our Internet Backup add-on if that has been purchased. The Internet Backup is only meant to be used in case of a fire, theft, or other loss of on-site backups. On-site backups are quicker and easier to restore than Internet Backups.

If you are backing up to volatile storage, meaning a storage type that can be erased by any means, it is also our recommendation that you do a non-volatile backup every week or every month. This would normally be done on a CD-R or DVD-R. These two types of discs are a one-time write storage location, once data is put on it, it cannot be erased. And CDs and DVDs degrade much much slower than USB sticks, tapes, or hot-swap hard drives.

Valid destinations of backups are CD-Rs / CD-RWs, DVD-R / DVD-RWs, USB sticks/thumb drives, hot-swap hard drives, data tapes, and network storage locations accessible by NFS, FTP, or Samba/Windows share. Destinations that are network storage of any kind are not officially supported by FSI but we have made backup programs that use these destinations and we can configure them. Because these network storage destinations are not usually monitored, maintained, or otherwise accessible by FSI or by the pharmacy staff, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of these backups, and should only be used as a secondary backup.

1. Ensure your server is configured for and on-site/local backup

From the main menu of the pharmacy management system press ‘B. Backup Utility’ then ‘4. Backup Configuration’. If the primary field is empty, it is not configured; please stop here and call FSI’s VIP Concierge Service for help.

2. Put backup media in place if needed for the backup you wish to perform

If you are doing a backup to a removable media, please insert that media now. This is typically a USB/Thumb drive.  Other media can be used, but it is not common.  If you have any questions about available backup media, contact FSI’s VIP Concierge Service.

3. Begin backup command

From the main menu of the pharmacy management system press ‘B. Backup Utility’, then ‘1. Perform Backup’, then either ‘1’ or ‘2’ depending on which backup you are going to do. You will be asked to confirm.

4. If you encounter an error, call FSI’s VIP Concierge Service as soon as possible