Backup

NEW backup / restore routine

The preferred backup and restore utility of APIS, is the ApisBare - Backup and Restore Tool

Please refer to this section for backup and restore routines.

OLD and Deprecated backup / restore routine

The oldbackup program used by Apis, is the default Microsoft Windows Backup program, a program that is included when installing Windows. To start this program, locate the shortcut Programs->Administrative tools->Backup from the Start menu. The backup program can be scheduled to run periodically, typically after regular office hours.

The backup program is documented in the Windows help and support files. Therefore, the remainder of this section will focus on the steps necessary to obtain a valid backup of a database.

Files and directories to backup

To obtain a complete backup of a database, you need to include the configuration file of the database as well as the directory with all sub-directories where the historical data is stored.

Configuration file (required)

The location of the configuration file of a database, is decided by the ConfigFile property of the database. This file must be included in your backup.

Historical data files (required)

The location of the historical data files of a database, is decided by the Path and the Name properties of the database. In this directory, you will find a sub-directory named Name.dat. This directory and all sub-directory file must be included in your backup. For a database named MainDB located having a Path property equal to C:\\Databases, the directory (with sub-directories) to backup will be: C:\\Databases\MainDB.dat.

Cache file (optional)

The Apis Honeystore uses internal caching to achieve high performance. The cached data is also mirrored to disk, to gain high data persistence. As an alternative to backing up the cache file, you can specify a cache size, using the of the database, that ensures that the amount of data kept in the caches will be insignificant compared to the period your backup runs. Meaning that if your backup runs every 24 hours, and the cache holds data for e.g. 6 hours, then a system crash 6 hours or more after the backup last ran will regardlessly result in loss of data. For how to calculate a reasonable cache size, see Calculating a reasonable cache size.

The location of the cache file, is determined by the Path and the Name properties of the database. In this directory, you will find a file named Name.cache, which should be included in your backup if you decide that you want to include the cache file in your backup. For a database named MainDB located having a Path property equal to C:\\Databases, the file to backup will be: C:\\Databases\MainDB.cache.

This file is always held open by Apis Honeystore, meaning that your backup software must be able to backup open files. To configure the default Microsoft Windows Backup program to include open files in its backup, you must alter a Windows registry setting, Using a registry editor, open the key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Ntbackup\Backup Engine

Add a string value (if it doesn't already exist) named Backup files inuse, and set its value to 1.