What is Stored on the Automatic and CHQ MLS Backups

[aebrown]

For clarity, would a data refresh wipe out those things you mention as missing?

No, all those things are retained in a data refresh. JD was only saying that if you start with a blank MLS database and hope to get back to where you started simply by doing a data refresh, you will be quite disappointed, since you will not recover any of the items he mentioned -- you would only get the information stored at CHQ on actual membership records.

That's why it's so important to restore an MLS backup if you want to get all your local data back.

[drkelly]

Since "All data is backed up up when a backup is made", any one backup should be able to restore all data as of the time of the backup. That being the case, how long do we need to keep previous backups? Isn't the most recent one all we care about?

[aebrown]

Since "All data is backed up up when a backup is made", any one backup should be able to restore all data as of the time of the backup. That being the case, how long do we need to keep previous backups? Isn't the most recent one all we care about?

There are several cases where it's helpful to have an older backup.

• I always keep the last backup of a year for quite a while. When you close a year, certain financial information gets deleted, and you might want to restore it.
• You might have deleted some information (callings, HT/VT information, etc.) a month or two ago, then you realize you'd love to know what that was. Restoring an older backup (after making a backup of your current state) can give you access to that data.
• Also, MLS has been known to develop certain database problems, but the effects might not show up for a few weeks. Sometimes it is helpful to go back to an earlier backup that is "clean" and move forward from there.

A flash drive can hold dozens of backups or more, so it seems prudent to keep a few backups for these situations.