The BookingCenter datafile contains all of your rates, seasons, guest information, marketing information, etc. The Backup feature explained in the BookingCenter Reference Manual works to backup to local drives, external devices such as a floppy/external drive, CD-ROM, Zip Drive, etc . Or, BookingCenter will backup to a remote server - read more about this option, and why off-site backup is a smart idea. Note that BookingCenter can not support backing up for Mac OS X networks. If you use a single OS X Macintosh, then our automated backup tools work fine. However, if you have a Mac OS X Server and a Mac OS X client, the automated backup tools do not work. To backup Mac OS X networks, please use a third party solution such as a .Mac account or Retrospect.

In order for any backups to work, the 'Backup Manager' computer must have permissions to write to the backup device. For help setting the correct permisions, ask your local network administrator. To back-up BookingCenter, please do the following:

1. Open the Parameters | Backup Configuration
2. 'Set the Folder' where you want the Backup to be saved. Even if you are saving to a remote server, this location will be used to save the zipped file before sending the backed up file to the remote FTP server.
3. Set the Computer to be the 'Backup Manager' - this is the computer that will be left on to backup automatically each night. The 'Backup Manager' will quit the other computers on the network at midnight when it does its backup.
4. Click the 'Backup' button. This makes a backup file at the location set in Step 2 and then shows a 'Backup Successful' once completed saving the backup file.
   
   *note - Macintosh users, you MUST have a folder called 'template' in the same folder as your /BookingCenter/ folder for the datafile to switch INTO while it backs up your main datafile. So, make this folder if you do not have one in your /BookingCenter/ folder. Also, you must have a file there called 'BOOKBACK.DF1' and if you do not have one, download it here and place it in the /BookingCenter/templates/ folder.
   
   
5. Set this process to automatically happen each night if desired.

For more detailed instructions regarding the Backup features of BookingCenter, refer to the BookingCenter Reference Manual

We recommend backing up each night, or at least weekly. If the backup feature does not work for your network, the old 'tried and true' method is to simply COPY the data file to a place where you can securely store it. This makes a copy of the BookingCenter data file and this is what contains all your relevant information.

If you have a backup of your data file, in the case of a computer rash you can easily restore BookingCenter on all your computers either by using a BookingCenter CD-ROM or downloading a copy from the Internet. Then, restore the data file you have been backing up, and voila! Your entire BookingCenter operation is back up. This can be done in as little as 2 minutes!

Troubles with multi-computer networks and backing up

Sometimes, in a multi-computer network, you will arrive in the am and a 'padlock' will appear on one of our BookingCenter computers. When this occurs, one of the client computers has lost connectivity to the Server (this typically occurs as a result of a network error). In the case of it happening late at night, though, it likely is caused by the auto-backup procedure quitting the server and backing up the data file. When this occurs, the other client computer 'looses' the connection to the data file and receives the padlock. Simply force/quitting BookingCenter will restart BookingCenter on that computer.

How to avoid this?.
The best way to set the Backup Manager to 'Auto Backup' and 'Auto Quit' all BookingCenter computers except the Backup Manager. This method also assures BokingCenter backs up automatically each night.

Another recommendation: quit BookingCenter when leaving for the night and use the backup procedure on the BookingCenter server computer (Parameters | Backup Config) to backup the data file to an external device each night. If you choose on any desktop PC that is NOT THE BACKUP MANAGER computer the "Auto Quit" setting to ON and the 'Use Automatic Backup', the other computers will quit 1/2 hour before the Backup Manager attempts to backup. This will happen automatically unless another computer is in the middle of a task.

Another recommendation: quit BookingCenter from both computers when leaving for the night and use a backup program to backup the BookingCenter data file (property_name.df1, or some such name)

If you need individual help, please consider the appropriate Support plan and we will help you put together a Backup solution. Note that we can not support backing up for Mac OS X networks. If you use a single OS X Macintosh, then our automated backup options work fine. However, if you have a Mac OS X Server and a Mac OS X client, the automated backup tools do not work. To backup Mac OS X networks, please use a third party solution such as a .Mac account or Retrospect.