Full backups every evening, an encrypted copy outside the practice and regularly tested restores
A failing drive, ransomware, a file deleted by mistake: in a dental practice, these incidents block the appointment book, patient files and imaging. To get back to work, you need a recent, complete backup that really can be restored. That is why DentalSystems is a partner and reseller of Macrium, a British publisher of backup software founded in 2006 in Manchester.
What Macrium backs up
Macrium Reflect creates a complete image of each computer: the system, the programs, the settings and the data. It is like a full copy of the drive, which can be put back exactly as it was.
This is how we back up the practice's computers and server. The backup takes place every evening, outside consultation hours.
What changes if there is a problem
- A file deleted or damaged: it can be recovered on its own, from a previous day's backup.
- A computer that has broken down or been infected: it is restored to the state of an earlier backup, programs and settings included, without reinstalling everything.
- A fire, a theft or water damage: the copy kept outside the practice allows you to recover your data.
We keep a history of about two weeks. You can therefore go back to a state before an infection, even if it is only discovered a few days later.
A copy outside the practice
Ransomware also encrypts the backups it can reach, and a fire or a theft takes everything in the practice. That is why one copy does not stay on site.
Every night, an encrypted copy of the backups leaves the practice. It is kept in Switzerland, in our care. Because it is encrypted, it remains unreadable to anyone who does not have the key.
This set-up follows the 3-2-1 rule recommended by the Federal Office for Cyber Security (FOCS): three copies of your data (the original and two backups), on two different media, one of them kept in another location.
Monitored and tested
We monitor every backup. If one of them fails, we are alerted and we step in.
A backup that has never been restored remains a promise. We therefore regularly test restores, to check that your data really could be recovered. Every test and every intervention is recorded in our follow-up.
A licence that belongs to you
The Macrium licence is bought in the practice's name, and the practice remains its owner. If you ever change provider, it remains yours.
The limits to be aware of
- One backup per evening: in the event of a breakdown, what has been entered since the last backup may be lost, at worst one day's work.
- A restore takes time: getting a computer or a server back up and running is not instantaneous. How long it takes depends in particular on the amount of data.
- No protection is absolute: that is why backups are monitored, tested and complemented by a copy outside the practice.
- The history has an end: a problem discovered after more than about two weeks can no longer be fixed by simply going back.
A question of compliance
The Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP) requires practices to protect their patients' data with technical and organisational measures appropriate to the risk. Its ordinance (DPO, Art. 3 para. 2 let. d) specifies that the availability of and access to data must be able to be restored quickly in the event of a physical or technical incident.
Monitored, tested backups directly meet this requirement. Our FADP guide details the other points to put in place.
Would you like to know whether your current backups really protect you? Contact us. The first visit is free of charge: we analyse your installation on site, discuss it with you, and give you a quote if you wish.