Jacob Taylor, Nov 14, 2023, FileMaker Training Videos

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1. Introduction: The Critical Importance of FileMaker Server Backups
2. Backups for Beginners
   • 2.1 What is a Backup?
   • 2.2 Understanding FileMaker Server’s Default Backup Settings
   • 2.3 Essential Steps to Configure a Backup
   • 2.4 Common Mistakes to Avoid for Beginners
3. Intermediate Backup Techniques
   • 3.1 Creating Custom Backup Schedules to Fit Your Needs
   • 3.2 What is Hard Linking and How Does it Save Space?
   • 3.3 How to Restore a Database from a Backup
4. Advanced Backup Strategies
   • 4.1 Understanding Progressive Backups: Protecting Your Data in Real-Time
   • 4.2 Backup Redundancy: Onsite, Offsite, and Cloud Strategies
   • 4.3 Optimizing Backups for Large FileMaker Solutions
   • 4.4 Ensuring Backup Integrity: Testing and Monitoring
5. Conclusion: The Ultimate Backup Strategy for FileMaker Developers

1. Introduction: The Critical Importance of FileMaker Server Backups <a name=”introduction”></a>

In the world of database management, backups are the insurance policy that can prevent catastrophic data loss. For FileMaker developers, understanding how to properly configure and manage backups is an essential skill at all levels—whether you’re just getting started or managing complex, large-scale solutions. Backups may seem mundane until the moment they become critical, and at that point, it’s often too late to fix issues caused by poor planning or misconfiguration.

In this post, we’ll dive deep into the nuances of FileMaker Server backups. Whether you’re a beginner, intermediate, or advanced developer, this guide will provide you with practical advice, strategies, and a step-by-step approach to mastering the backup process.

2. Backups for Beginners <a name=”backups-beginners”></a>

2.1 What is a Backup? <a name=”what-is-backup”></a>

A backup is essentially a snapshot of your FileMaker database at a particular moment in time. This snapshot includes all the data, schema, and structure of your database, allowing you to recover it if something goes wrong, such as a server crash, accidental deletion, or data corruption.

In FileMaker, backups are scheduled and stored by the FileMaker Server application. A proper backup strategy ensures that no matter what happens to your live data, you will always have a recent version of your database that you can restore.

Key Elements of a Backup:

• Database File (FMP12): The core of your FileMaker solution.
• Container Data: Any files or media stored in container fields (e.g., PDFs, images).
• Backup Logs: Information about when the backup was taken and its status.

2.2 Understanding FileMaker Server’s Default Backup Settings <a name=”default-backups”></a>

FileMaker Server provides a default backup setup out of the box. The default configuration creates a backup once per day at midnight and retains those backups for seven days. This ensures that even if you forget to configure any custom settings, your database will still be backed up daily.

Default Backup Settings:

• Backup Time: Every day at midnight.
• Retention Period: 7 days (i.e., 7 copies of the database).
• Location: Typically stored on the same drive as the database (which we’ll discuss why this is not ideal).

While the default settings provide basic coverage, they may not be sufficient for many organizations, especially if you have frequent data updates throughout the day. Relying solely on a single daily backup can lead to data loss if something happens before or after that one backup.

2.3 Essential Steps to Configure a Backup <a name=”configure-backup”></a>

Let’s walk through setting up a basic backup schedule that is reliable and easy to restore from.

Step-by-Step Guide:

1. Log into the FileMaker Server Admin Console: Open a web browser and navigate to your server’s address. Sign in to the Admin Console using your credentials.
2. Access the Backups Tab: In the Admin Console, go to the “Backups” section. Here, you’ll see the default backup schedule and any custom backups you may have configured.
3. Create a Custom Backup Schedule: Click on the “New Schedule” button. From here, you can define how often you want your database backed up (e.g., hourly, daily, weekly) and how many backups to retain.
4. Choose a Backup Location: Always ensure that backups are stored on a different physical drive from your live databases. This prevents both the live data and backups from being lost in the event of hardware failure.
5. Test Your Backup: After creating a new backup schedule, manually trigger a backup to ensure everything works. You can do this by selecting the “Backup Now” option.

2.4 Common Mistakes to Avoid for Beginners <a name=”beginner-mistakes”></a>

Beginners often make mistakes that can compromise the effectiveness of their backups. Here are some pitfalls to watch out for:

• Not Testing Backups: Creating a backup schedule is only half the battle. You need to test your backups regularly to ensure they are working properly.
• Storing Backups on the Same Drive: If your backups are stored on the same physical drive as your live database, a hard drive failure could result in the loss of both your live data and the backups. Always use a separate drive for storing backups.
• Infrequent Backups: Relying solely on the default daily backup is risky if your data changes frequently throughout the day. Consider setting up more frequent backups (e.g., every hour) to minimize potential data loss.

3. Intermediate Backup Techniques <a name=”intermediate-backups”></a>

3.1 Creating Custom Backup Schedules to Fit Your Needs <a name=”custom-backup-schedules”></a>

For intermediate users, the key to effective backups lies in customizing the schedules to match the specific needs of your FileMaker solution and the business processes it supports.

Steps to Create Custom Backup Schedules:

1. Determine Backup Frequency: Evaluate how often your data changes. If you have frequent updates throughout the day (e.g., data entry, financial transactions), consider creating an hourly backup schedule. If your data is more static, daily backups may be sufficient.
2. Set Retention Periods: Retention periods define how many backup copies are kept before the oldest backups are deleted. For example:
   • Hourly Backups: Keep the last 24 hourly backups (1 day’s worth).
   • Daily Backups: Retain the last 30 daily backups (1 month’s worth).
   • Weekly Backups: Keep 52 weekly backups (1 year’s worth).
3. Monitor Backup Performance: Ensure that your backup frequency does not impact server performance. If backups are scheduled too frequently on a high-traffic system, you may notice a slowdown. In these cases, adjust the backup schedule or explore more advanced options like Progressive Backups (discussed later).

3.2 What is Hard Linking and How Does it Save Space? <a name=”hard-linking”></a>

Hard linking is a technology used by FileMaker Server to dramatically reduce the storage space required for backups. Instead of creating an entirely new copy of the database for every backup, FileMaker only saves the differences between backups, while making it look like a full backup has been created.

How Hard Linking Works:

• On the first backup, a full copy of the database is saved.
• On subsequent backups, only changes to the database are saved, while references (or hard links) are made to unchanged data from previous backups.
• To the user, each backup appears as a full, standalone backup, but behind the scenes, FileMaker is saving space by only storing the changes.

This allows you to keep numerous backups without using as much storage as you would if each backup were a full copy.

3.3 How to Restore a Database from a Backup <a name=”restoring-backups”></a>

Restoring from a backup is one of the most important skills you’ll need to ensure data integrity in the event of a failure.

Step-by-Step Guide to Restoring from Backup:

1. Locate the Backup: In the FileMaker Admin Console, navigate to the “Backups” section and locate the backup you want to restore. Look for the timestamp that corresponds to the moment right before the issue occurred.
2. Download the Backup: Click “Download” to save a copy of the backup to your local machine or a secure location.
3. Unzip the Backup: The backup will be in a compressed format. Extract the files using a ZIP utility.
4. Replace the Live Database: After stopping the FileMaker Server, replace the current (possibly damaged) database file with the backup. Make sure to move the live file to a secure location for safekeeping before overwriting it.
5. Restart the Server: Once the backup has been restored, restart the FileMaker Server and verify that everything is working as expected.

4. Advanced Backup Strategies <a name=”advanced-backups”></a>

4.1 Understanding Progressive Backups: Protecting Your Data in Real-Time <a name=”progressive-backups”></a>

For advanced developers managing high-transaction environments, Progressive Backups offer a powerful way to minimize data loss by creating backups every five minutes. Instead of creating a full backup each time, Progressive Backups only capture the changes made since the last backup, drastically reducing the amount of data that needs to be processed.

How Progressive Backups Work:

• The first time a Progressive Backup is initiated, a full copy of the database is made.
• Every five minutes, only the changes (or increments) made to the database are backed up.
• FileMaker maintains two “complete” backups at all times, with one additional “in-progress” backup that is actively collecting changes.

Why Use Progressive Backups?:

• Minimizes Data Loss: In the event of a failure, you can recover your database to within five minutes of the crash.
• Reduces Storage Impact: Since only changes are backed up, Progressive Backups take up far less space than traditional backups.

Enabling Progressive Backups:

1. In the Admin Console, navigate to the “Configuration” section.
2. Enable Progressive Backups and choose where the backup files will be stored.
3. Monitor the process to ensure it’s capturing changes accurately.

4.2 Backup Redundancy: Onsite, Offsite, and Cloud Strategies <a name=”backup-redundancy”></a>

Advanced developers should consider backup redundancy to protect against physical disasters, data corruption, or cyberattacks. This involves maintaining multiple backup copies in different locations.

Types of Backup Redundancy:

• Onsite Backups: These are stored on the same network but on different drives. Onsite backups are fast and easy to access but are vulnerable to physical damage (fire, floods, etc.).
• Offsite Backups: Offsite backups are stored in a different physical location or in the cloud, protecting your data from local disasters. These backups are slower to restore but provide an essential layer of protection.
• Cloud Storage: Cloud backup solutions (e.g., AWS S3, Google Cloud) can be configured to automatically sync FileMaker Server backups. Cloud backups are cost-effective and provide excellent disaster recovery capabilities.

4.3 Optimizing Backups for Large FileMaker Solutions <a name=”optimizing-backups”></a>

When dealing with large databases (hundreds of gigabytes), managing backups can become more complex. Here are several strategies to optimize your backups:

1. Exclude Large Static Files: Use FileMaker’s container data external storage options to keep large files (e.g., images, videos) out of the backup process.
2. Use External Storage for Containers: Instead of backing up container data with every backup, store it externally to avoid copying the same data repeatedly.
3. Stagger Backup Schedules: Rather than running all backups at once, stagger different schedules (e.g., hourly backups for transactional data, daily backups for archive data).

4.4 Ensuring Backup Integrity: Testing and Monitoring <a name=”backup-integrity”></a>

No matter how well you plan your backups, you must regularly test and monitor them to ensure they are functioning properly. Advanced users should set up automated monitoring systems that alert you to backup failures or disk space issues.

Backup Monitoring Tips:

• Test Restorations: At least once a month, restore a backup to ensure it’s functioning properly.
• Disk Space Alerts: Set up automated alerts to notify you when disk space is running low.
• Automated Backup Reports: Use server-side scripts to generate daily or weekly backup reports that detail the success or failure of each backup.

5. Conclusion: The Ultimate Backup Strategy for FileMaker Developers <a name=”conclusion”></a>

Creating a robust backup strategy is one of the most important tasks for any FileMaker developer. Whether you’re just starting out or managing a complex, multi-server environment, backups ensure that your data is always safe and recoverable.

Here are some best practices to follow:

1. Test Regularly: Never assume your backups are working—test them frequently.
2. Use Redundancy: Maintain onsite and offsite backups to protect against local and global disasters.
3. Take Advantage of Progressive Backups: For high-transaction systems, Progressive Backups minimize the risk of data loss.

By understanding the full spectrum of backup options available in FileMaker Server, you can build a backup strategy that suits your needs, ensures data integrity, and protects your business from unexpected failures.

FileMaker Server Backups Checklist

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