Back It Up! By Paul Hinman

Q: What does the term "server" mean?

A: Server is a stand-alone computer that houses and protects your data, and it usually has a server operating system like 'Windows Server 2003'. 'Windows XP Home' and 'Pro' are NOT server operating systems. Stand-alone means there is no user working at the keyboard except for occasional server maintenance. A server is more than an extra workstation both in hardware and software differences. The most significant benefit to having a stand-alone server is a RAID hard drive system that will save your data and your business from disaster if and when one of your server drives crash (See RAID question below). The use of a real server operating system brings extraordinary advancements in user and computer control for your network. Security, restricted file access, internet regulation, data availability, secure backups—all these things come easily with a server in place. By placing your data on a dedicated server away from any users' hands, you are ensuring that any misguided web browsing, spam, virus, and adware accidents cannot reach the data that is core to the survival of your business.
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Q: What is a RAID array?

A: Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives. This means that 2, 3, or more hard drives are tethered to a controller card inside the server where they act cooperatively as one single drive. Windows has no idea that there are actually a few drives in the box so it doesn't create any extra expenses or complications to routine management of your server—only an extreme safety benefit! 3 drives does not mean 3x the storage! The extra hard drives are used to store a fabric-weave like arrangement of all your information that spans across all 3, including a lot of duplicate info that creates redundancy. The math behind all of this bogggles the mind. What you need to know is that one of your drives can fail in the middle of the day and no data will be lost—the server will keep right on going! The second thing to note is that ALL hard drives fail at some point—period. Try to calculate what downtime would cost your office with no work being done and unknown patients walking in the door for procedures you are not setup to perform, if you can even remember what they were coming in for!  
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Q: Why does a computer crash?

A: Let me count the ways! Bad news—the average life expectancy of a business-grade computer in a production business environment is about 3 years. Now you are thinking about those old dusty computers running at your office right now, I know it. The end of life (EOL) is usually brought about by system failure as well as becoming performance obsolete. The staff in your office will usually be cooperative about slow performance aggravation long after their old computer is actually making them far less productive and therefore more expensive everyday! The most common reasons for hardware failure are 1. Power Supply dies 2. Hard drive failure (it has been spinning at 7200rpm for years in there) 3. Some less common combination of motherboard, CPU, or memory failure. If it is Windows that has failed you, it is very often the hard drive itself that has bad spots making some important Windows files unreadable. If it really is Windows, then you most likely have a user education/careless operation issue or premature shutdown problem. I know we like to blame the computer for so much, but I'll tell you this much—setup a new PC in an empty room, lock the door and leave it untouched, and in 3 years it will probably still be running. The more you know, the more they work with you instead of against you.
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Q: Why do I need to backup my data?

A: All hard drives fail at some point. If your data, like a Dentrix or Eaglesoft database, is on an admin workstation with one hard drive and it fails, you have to recover all your appointment, patient, x-ray, and document data from backups. If your last good backup is 4 days old—that's it for the last 4 days of work the office did—gone. You may be able to recover data from the dead drive after a couple of weeks at a recovery facility costing $1000 - $2000. When doing network assessments for potential clients, we have found that 65% - 70% of offices had backups as old as 6 months! They always thought everything was allright, even changing tapes or USB drives every day that entire time. A better question would be—what if I have no backup? We feel that it should be on a par with maintaining your compressor.
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Q: What is the difference between onsite and offsite backups, and why do I need both?

A: An onsite backup will store a copy of your files or even a copy of your server's 'System State' (or ghost) on a separate hard drive or tape that resides in the same office as the server. This is the fastest source to restore data from in the event of a failure. It is not a totally complete solution because of the big three threats—fire, theft, and malice. It is also a HIPAA compliance issue to have your patient records backed up securely offsite.

Offsite backups guard against fire, theft, and malice, but bring in other security concerns at the same time. If you are swapping hard drives or tapes and transporting them home and back everyday, you are moving unencrypted data that could be read by almost anyone. Those devices could be lost, damaged, or forgotten. Also, the systems that run the simplest backups (in most offices) do not notify anyone if they are working or not. If left unattended, they stop working for one reason or another after a few months in many cases. A Managed Online Backup alleviates all these concerns as it is inherently very securely encrypted, does not need any user intervention or drive swapping, and can be monitored by log emails on a daily basis. This need is why we developed Liptak Backups for our dental customers.
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Q: Where does my data go when I back it up with your software?

A: Down to the center of a lead mountain 1000 miles from any nucelar power plant next to the President's bomb shelter. There is also a padlock on the door to the server room. Ok, this may be an exaggeration, but it may as well be that secure! We have partnered with EMC for our storage needs for one clear reason—they are the very best. Their servers run in secure locations around the world with complete temperature and humidity control, retina or palm scan regulated entrance, guaranteed power availability with onsite generators and emergency services level access to fuel supplies. Each location has several redundant data connections at the Internet Backbone level costing tens of thousands per month. The data we backp usually lands on both the East and West coasts as well as some locations in Europe.
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Q: Who has access to my data?

A: Only you, if you wish. When setting up an account you may select your own encryption key. This is a fancy term for password. Using super-brain algorithms the rest of us could never decipher, the software renders all your backed up data illegible to even the CIA without your secret passcode. Neither Liptak nor the storage facility can see anything in your account without permission. We can also select the key for you and store it in our system to guarantee the availability of your data.
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Q: How do I know that my backups are working?

A:If your backup fails for more than 2 consecutive nights, we will call you. This is what no one else will do for your practice. Almost no dental office has a full-time IT guy, and that isn't going to change anytime soon. With our included monitoring services, you will know about your onsite and offsite backups as well as any problems that might be interfering with those backups like server shutdowns or internet connection failures. No IT guy needed!
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Q: You say that your service is HIPAA compliant, please explain what this means?

A: Our service meets HIPAA requirements by heavily encrypting your data for privacy, then storing it offsite for safety. If you choose and retain your encryption password, then only you can obtain your data and HIPAA requirements are satisfied.
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