Local teams serve Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary. Call (604) 813-7881 for a free consult with Tony. No pressure, no jargon.
Dental Data Backup and Recovery: tested before the bad day
We have backups. Have we ever restored one?
Patient charts and x-rays are the clinic. We back them up, then we test restores so you know they work before the bad day. When we restore a failed server from local storage, it has taken less than 2 hours. Locked copies stay locked for 30 days (what IT people call immutable).
What should a dental backup cover?
It should cover the practice software database, the image folder with x-rays and photos, the server itself and the settings that connect the software to your sensors. It follows a 3-2-1 plan: three copies of your data, on two kinds of storage, with one copy offsite. We add an immutable copy, locked for 30 days so it can’t be changed or deleted in that time. Then we test it, because a backup that has never been restored is only a hope.
- Under 2 hrsto restore a failed server from local storage
- 30 dayslocked copies can’t be changed or deleted
- 3-2-1three copies, two kinds of storage, one offsite in Vancouver, BC
- Yearlyrecovery test, plus spot checks on multiple copies
Dentist or office manager? The questions that matter.
If you own the clinic
- How long are we closed? When we restore a failed server from local storage, it has taken less than 2 hours.
- Can ransomware wipe the backups? Not the locked copies. They stay locked for 30 days.
- Has anyone tested it? Yes. Spot checks, plus a full recovery test every year.
If you run the office
- What do I do on the bad day? Call (604) 813-7881. A person answers, 24/7.
- Is checking backups my job? No. We do the checks and tell you what we found.
- What does the front desk do meanwhile? We help you write a simple plan before you need it.
Why it matters, in plain words
Three things people mix up about backups, and why they matter on the bad day.
RAID 10
Why two healthy drives still aren’t a backup
RAID keeps the server running when a drive dies. It also copies a deleted chart or a ransomware attack to every drive instantly.
Immutable backups
Why attackers go after backups first
If the backups are gone, a clinic has to pay or start over. A copy locked for 30 days takes that option off the table for that window.
Hyper-V
Why the server’s age matters less than you think
On Hyper-V, the whole server can be restored onto other hardware. A dead box doesn’t mean waiting weeks for a new one.
More plain guides on how it all works.
How our backup plan is built
Each part covers a different way data gets lost.
Several copies
One copy is the data you work on. The others are what you fall back on when it’s damaged or deleted.
More than one kind of storage
If one type of storage fails, the other is still there.
One copy offsite
Our offsite copy is held in Canada, in Vancouver, BC. A fire, flood or theft at the clinic shouldn’t take your only backup with it.
Immutable storage
Ransomware looks for backups to destroy. A copy locked for 30 days can’t be changed or deleted in that time, so there’s nothing for ransomware to encrypt or erase.
Spot checks and a yearly recovery test
Spot checks on multiple copies of the backups, plus a yearly disaster recovery test. We restore from backup and check that the software opens and the images are there.
A written way back
We help you write down who calls whom, what comes back first, and where to work in the meantime, in plain words.
3 copies
Your live data and two backups.
2 kinds of storage
So one kind of failure can’t take both.
1 copy offsite
Held in Canada, in Vancouver, BC.
If something fails: questions we ask you
A backup is one part of staying open. Many clinics have never been asked these two questions, and they’re worth a few minutes.
How long can the clinic be down?
This is your recovery time. Is it an hour, half a day, a full day? The answer shapes how we build the server, the backups and the restore.
How much data can you lose?
This is your recovery point. Could you retype a morning of entries, or only a few minutes? The answer decides how often your data is copied.
We help you put your answers in writing, so everyone on the team knows them.
What can fail, and what happens
- The server. On Hyper-V, the whole server is a set of files. It can be restored from backup onto other hardware. How long that takes depends on the hardware and the size of your data, which is why we ask the questions above. Restores run as fast as the backup storage allows (immutable storage or NAS).
- The internet. A clinic with a local server can usually keep working inside the office, while claims, email and cloud tools wait. A cloud practice software needs the internet to run at all. We recommend a second internet link as a backup, and forwarding the clinic phone to a mobile.
- The power. We recommend a battery backup (a UPS) for the server and network, so a short outage or a surge is less likely to damage the database. It also gives the server time to shut down cleanly.
- The software. A failed update is why every change starts with a tested backup. If your software vendor has an outage, the front desk plan below helps you keep the day moving.
- Ransomware, fire or theft. Our offsite copy is held in Vancouver, BC, and the immutable copy is locked for 30 days for this day. See what to do if ransomware hits.
A simple plan for the front desk
When the system is down, the front desk still needs to see patients. We help you prepare a one page downtime plan:
- A printed copy of tomorrow’s schedule, printed the evening before.
- Paper forms for new patients, health history and consent.
- A way to take payments, agreed with your payment provider.
- A list of key patient and emergency contacts.
- Who decides to switch to paper, and who enters the notes afterwards.
Who to call
We help you write one short list and keep it where the team can find it: Benson Hunt at (604) 813-7881, where a person answers 24/7, plus your internet provider, your practice software support line, your phone provider and your insurer.
A part fails
A drive, a server or a bad update. It can happen to any system.
We restore from backup
The whole server comes back from a tested backup, on the same or other hardware.
The clinic gets back to work
Until then, your front desk follows a downtime plan we help you prepare.
Two things that look like backups but are not
RAID means several drives work as one, so a server keeps running if one drive fails. But it copies mistakes and ransomware just as faithfully, so it’s not a backup (why RAID is not a backup). A Hyper-V checkpoint is a short lived restore point taken just before an upgrade, not a backup either. If your server runs on Hyper-V, whole machines can be backed up and restored on other hardware. Read about Hyper-V for dental clinics
Backup and recovery in your city
If a server or drive needs replacing, hands on site matter. Our Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary teams come to your clinic, and our regular hours are Monday to Friday, 7am to 5pm MT. Our emergency line is answered 24/7 by a person. Ask your lawyer how long records and backups must be kept and where patient data may be stored. See the privacy rules guide. We also serve clinics in Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey, Delta and Langley, in St. Albert, Sherwood Park, Morinville and Whitecourt near Edmonton, and in Airdrie and Cochrane near Calgary.
If you’re moving practice software
A backup is the first thing we take before any software move, and we test it before touching anything. See dental software data conversion.
Dental backup questions
What is a 3-2-1 backup?
Three copies of your data, on two kinds of storage, with one copy offsite. We add an immutable copy, locked for 30 days so it can’t be changed or deleted in that time.
Is RAID a backup?
No. RAID keeps a server running if one drive fails. It doesn’t protect against deletion, corruption or ransomware.
What happens if ransomware hits?
Disconnect the affected computers and call us at (604) 813-7881. We help contain it, check your backups, restore clean systems and work out what was touched.