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Page Revision: Mon, 23 Dec 2019 08:44

Managing CAREWare Data

A clear database backup plan for CAREWare should be implemented to protect from data loss. For those running CAREWare on a network system, it is likely that your system is backed up regularly, perhaps each evening. Users should perform regular backups of data with a frequency based on how much data is entered each day.

CAREWare provides a backup utility that is accessed as follows:

Log in under Central Administration.
Click Administrative Options.
Click Server Management.
Click Backup/Restore Options.

To create a backup now follow the instructions here:

Click Create a backup now.
Click Select Databases.
Check the databases included in the backup.
Click Save.
Click Create Backup.

To manage scheduled backups follow the instructions here:

Click Edit the backup schedule.
Click Select Databases.
Check each database included in the backups.
Click Save.
Click Edit.
Enter a number for Days between. (A zero means scheduled backups are turned off.)
Select the Time of Day for backups to occur.
Click Save.

The backup frequency should be based on the organization's policy for managing health records. The organization should also keep in mind how far back they would want to go if there was an issue. If users are entering data daily, and there is an issue where the database needs to restored, a weeks worth of data entry could be lost if backups were scheduled weekly. If data is imported once a month, then monthly backups would be fine. If data is only entered through the imports, then the import files could function as backups, although this wouldn't be as comprehensive as a full backup of the database.

In addition to the frequency, organizations should keep in mind storage space as it relates to backups. Scheduled daily backups for a database that is 4 GB in size means that 120 GB of space is used by the end of each month. The organization should follow its policies for managing health records when deciding how frequently they should delete or clean up backup files.

The backup file will be written to the SQL Server Backup Directory location set in the businesstiersettings.xml. This setting can be adjusted using the CW Admin utility or by editing the business tier settings file in the business tier folder.

To change the location using the CW Admin Utility follow the instructions here:

Go to C: Program Files\CAREWare Business Tier
Right click CW Admin.
Click Run as administrator.
Click Stop Server.
Click SQLServerRestoreFromDirectory.
Click Edit.
Under Setting: change the location string.
Click Save.
Click SQLServerBackupDirectory.
Click Edit.
Under Setting: change the location string.
Click Save.
Click Start Server.

Note: These locations do not have to be the same; however, if you want to restore from a saved backup, you will have to browse to find the backup if the paths are not the same.

To restore the database from a backup file follow the instructions here:

Click Restore the database from a backup.
Click the drop down arrow to select the file to be used to restore.
Click Choose Database Sources.
Check each database that should be restored.
Click Restore.

Note: If the BackupFile is missing the drop down arrow, then the SQLServerRestoreFrom path needs to be updated and the backup file needs to be placed in that folder.

Additional Backup Recommendations

We strongly recommend that you go a step further and regularly back up that entire folder on a separate server. If the CAREWare server goes down or crashes, data backed up on another server allows for the data to be recovered, even if that means installing CAREWare on a new server. We can always reload the latest version of the software but can’t say the same for your database unless you have a backup!

To download these instructions click here.

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