All about Snapshot data

1

Greetings,

We currently use snapshot data to track inventory data and a mistake has erased all of that historical data. This situation has created a series of questions for us that I’m hoping the community can help.

Is there any way to restore old snapshot data? My current understanding is once this is lost there is no way to retrieve it.

Is there a way to export historical snapshot data from a database? We want to create a way of having a backup of the snapshot data that could be added to the database in the event of another loss. What is the best way to get that data exported into a file that can be kept as a backup?

Does it make sense to create an entirely new sync file and source for any snapshotted data, as a means of creating a separation from the “regular” data? Has anyone done something like this before?

2

Hi @MatthewWalsh,

Ah snapshots arent they grand :wink: ???

Slightly confused how the data would be erased? If you were using the snapshot options within Sync you should have everything still?

Worst case give Phocas support a call, they may have backups of your system so you can get the sync feed, the problem here is that time may have elapsed and they are now lost due to thier backup rota.

What I do (extra Paranoid!):

  1. Get the query that you use to push the data to Phocas and insert it firstly into a local table on your business SQL server or Excel (if no DB option is available) and add a timestamp of when it was executed. You then have a local backup which will build over time, the challenge is how often are these snapshots? Monthly (managable), daily (awkward), hourly(not going to even think about).
  2. On this local “copy” you should have this new timestamp and then query this data using the timestamp to push though to Phocas via sync (without the timestamp).
  3. The sync snapshot should take it from there with the extra column that has been added as part of the sync.

Another advantage of having it local is what if there is an internet glitch when send the sync to Phocas? If its once a month you could loose your window of opportunity, its mainly for this reason I set up a local copy, so I have some peace of mind that the data is there and can force it though later.

I mentioned something similar when I made a huge mistake and needed to get the data out of Phocas here: Retain Snapshots - Inventory

Good Luck!

Jon