BACKUP and virus protection

Backup Protocol

Off-site (Cloud) Servers

Assisi/SQL Cloud servers that we provide are backed up by ourselves and need no further backup routines to be carried out at the practice.

This does not include practice PCs that you use to access a cloud server and on which you store personal/practice documents. It is the practice’s responsibility to back up such machines.

On-site Servers

All physical Assisi/SQL servers which we provide will automatically perform a full system backup onto an internal drive each night. We also recommend, however, that you perform a periodic (monthly) manual backup onto the external USB drives provided (in your emergency recovery box), which can be taken off site (in case of fire/flood/theft etc).

For servers that we do not provide or maintain, we assume that you already have a full system backup routine in place. If not, we would recommend that you purchase 2 external hard drives (2TB) so that we can schedule a nightly backup (one to stay in place each night on site, and one to be carried out manually each month and taken off-site).

Additionally, we offer our optional cloud backup which backs up all of your SQL server configurations and data automatically every night. We can provide this service (currently at £10 per server per month) if you wish to take up this option. This is an additional level of security for your secure data. The more backups that you have, the more secure that your data will be.

Your Assisi documents/attachments, etc, are backed up in the cloud onto a Onedrive or Syncthing account. If this should become full, you will need to upgrade the capacity. Should this become necessary, you can do this by logging into your Onedrive or Syncthing account.

For multi-branch practices, replication between branches, where applicable, means that you would be unlikely to lose your client data in the event of drive failure. However, if your publisher failed, it would take us a minimum of a week to restore this data from replication alone, as you would have lost all of your configuration. Also, it would mean that all of the branches would be down, not just your main branch.

On top of being down for a week, we would charge per server for recovery if you do not have a system backup in place. On the other hand, if you do have a backup in place, we should be able to restore it in a few hours.

Out of all of these possible options (and we recommend them all), the bare minimum we would insist upon would be one external hard drive backup for the publisher plus the online backup, or 2 external hard drive backups. We can only ever recover you to your last good backup and it's the practice's responsibility to ensure they have one, and that it is backing up correctly each night.

Your practice PCs should also be backed up if you store personal/practice documents on these PCs. It is the practice’s responsibility to back up such machines.

Online Backup

All practices by default will be registered for online backup. This facility automatically backs up any daily data changes as they occur.

The internal hard drive backup, together with this online data backup, would allow us to rebuild your server should this ever become necessary. However, we strongly recommend that, in addition to these two automatic backups, you back up your internal hard drive – at least once a month - onto the portable external USB drive that will have been provided with your order and left on site for this purpose. This portable hard drive should be stored separately from your server, and preferably off-site to cover all eventualities.

Internal Hard Drive Backup

Your internal hard drive will already be scheduled to back up automatically each day – the default time will be 9.00 pm. Each day, you should check that this backup has completed successfully the previous evening. On the A1 desktop, double-click the Windows Server Backup shortcut to check the backup log.

Note: Please note that if the server had been turned off at the scheduled time, then the backup would start as soon as the server is turned back on.

Portable USB Drive Backup

Connect your external hard drive into any of the free USB ports on your server.

On the A1 desktop, double-click the Windows Server Backup shortcut.
On the top right hand side of the Local Backup screen, click Backup Once.
On the Backup Options screen, click Different Options and then click Next
On the Select Backup Configuration screen, click Custom and then click Next.
On the Select Items for Backup Screen, click Add Items.
Click Bare Metal Recovery. This should also automatically select System State and Local Disk (C:).
On the Specify Destination Type screen, Local Drives will already be selected. Leave this and click Next.
Select your portable hard drive from the drop down box and click Next.
On the Backup Confirmation Screen, click Backup and the backup will begin.
When complete, safely remove the portable USB drive and store this away from the server. If possible, remove from site.

Virus Protection

There has been a recent upsurge in attacks on computer systems by Ransomware computer viruses. If this happens to you, it will be necessary to restore a backup as the files cannot be
recovered. If you do not have a backup then the data will be permanently lost.

To reduce the serious risk this poses, please adhere to the following advice.

Have an internet browsing policy and make sure that everyone knows what type of sites you are happy for them to access and be very wary of opening emails and following links contained in emails - even when they appear to be from someone you know. Do not download attachments unless you are absolutely sure they are genuine, as scammers often distribute fake email messages that appear to be from well-known sources, luring recipients into clicking on a malicious link and installing their malware.
It is sensible to install antivirus software on your practice workstation PC’s and laptops. Modern computers (running Windows 10) have built-in Windows Defender but if you are using PC’s running older operating systems, such as Windows 7, we would be happy to supply AVG if required. It is worth mentioning that Microsoft has now ended extended support for Windows 7.

On-site Assisi/SQL Servers

Check that your automated backup routines are working and do perform the periodic ad-hoc off-site backups of each server as recommended. The disk drive for this will have been provided in your Emergency Recovery Box when the server was delivered. This disconnected backup is vital as we have seen that the viruses have started to target online backup devices.
Always ensure that Windows updates are installed as soon as possible after they become available. The updates Microsoft distributes often help protect against such malware attacks. All servers and workstations that we supply have automatic Windows updates enabled, but sometimes you need to reboot the computer for these updates to complete. We recommend that you reboot your computer once a week to ensure that this doesn’t take too long. Never turn off your computers when updates are being installed, no matter how long it is taking. If in doubt, give us a call.
Ensure your antivirus solution is up date and current. If we supplied your server, it will be protected by AVG Business – unless you specifically requested otherwise - and we will usually contact you to remind you when it is due for renewal. However, it is ultimately the practice’s responsibility to keep this anti-virus software up-to-date, so please do check this yourselves.
We would also recommend that you consider installing Malware Bytes Anti-Malware Premium Edition on your server in addition to your standard antivirus package. It has a low cost and offers specific Ransomware protection. If you would like advice on how to do this please call our Support team and we will be happy to assist.
Finally, please ensure that everyone knows the location of the Server Operating System Media in case the worst should happen and recovery needs to be attempted. It was supplied with your Emergency Recovery Box.