Medisoft Task Scheduler Suggestions

[Dustin]

I've been working with Medisoft for more than 10 years, and a few years ago I created a Document on my computer with Task Scheduler Suggestions for Medisoft... Every suggestion on the list would save a significant amount of time in managing tasks for every size of user...

I figured I would finally post it publicly somewhere and maybe others have items they believe should be added to the list (If you do, post it as a Reply and I will add it).

So here's the list:

• Run All Backup’s Now Button – It would be really nice be able to click on a single button that would run all scheduled backups right then. Currently to do this, you have to right click on each task and click Run Now.
• It would be nice to have an option that could close the Task Scheduler after all tasks are completed. Personally, I dislike having any program running on our server when it is unnecessary. I have had to configure a script to close the Task Scheduler after a certain amount of time of it being opened. I then have it reopen about an hour before the tasks are to run. Doing this allows me to only run the Task Scheduler when it is necessary.
• Task Log – One feature that is missing from the Task Scheduler is a Task Log. Successful & Unsuccessful tasks should all be logged. Currently, if there is a problem a button appears on the Task Scheduler.
• Email Daily Task Logs – I would like to be able to have an Email sent to me telling me which tasks were successful as well as which tasks failed & why.
• Sortable Columns – One thing that is really missing from the Task Scheduler is the ability to sort each column. When you have several hundred scheduled tasks, it is such a pain to find a scheduled task that needs to be edited. Being able to sort the column by the last time it ran, or the next time it will run, or the description of the task, or by task type, and so on.
• Remote Backups – It would be nice to be able to setup a backup task to place the backup on a remote server automatically via SFTP or some other secure file transfer. Currently you must use remote backup software to handle the remote backup part.
• Custom Backup Labeling – It would be nice to customize the backup labels. For example, currently you will get something like: “DR JOHN SMITHmw7-17-2009.mbk”; It would be nice to be able to customize it to something like: “20090717-DR JOHN SMITH.mbk”; Or perhaps: “2009-July-17_DR JOHN SMITH.mbk”… This would allow for much faster backup management on the file system.
• By Default the Task Scheduler should put the practice name in the Description field.
• Allow users to select compression options. EX: Low, Medium, High, Extreme, etc… Also, it would be a good idea to use LZMA. LZMA offers very impressive compression ratios for Advantage Database Files and does it extremely quickly. I have actually found that it is often 3-5 times faster to backup all of my data using LZMA than letting the task Scheduler do all the backups (And I get a file that is 35-50% smaller). LZMA also uses very little memory and can even take advantage of multiple cores when doing backups. (This can all be demonstrated using 7Zip)
• I noticed that when manually running File Maintenance, the program asks for the user to log into the practice to run it. It would be nice to be able to set a default username & password for running this task.
• It would be nice to have check boxes next to each task so that dozens could be edited at the same time. This would be helpful for example if you wanted to change the scheduled time or destination for all the backup tasks.
• Schedule a Root Backup that works. First, Everyone knows the Root Backup feature in Medisoft never really does a full backup of all root files. Second it would be nice to schedule a working backup of the Root.
• Much more advanced scheduling... Not only should I be able to schedule the intervals in days or backups... But I should be able to say, \"Backup this every Tuesday at 9:15PM\"... Or Backup this on the \"1st of Every Month at 3:30AM\", or maybe on the 15th, or On the last day of the month...

[jupdegraff]

Dustin, these are all great ideas. I'll make sure these get passed along.

We offer a backup service that automatically does much of what you ask below.

1. You can schedule ours to backup all Medisoft databases in one job if you like.
2. Ours runs as a service so you don't have to leave the task scheduler running on the server's desktop.
3. Everything is logged.
4. You can be e-mailed success and/or failure status of each backup.
5. We configure it to backup to our FTP site. The backups are encrypted on your machine before is is even transmitted.
6. Can backup to separate folders with date and time stamp.
7. You can configure the compression level, but our backup solution just uses WinZip. Not as good as WinRar and possibly LZMA. We do have the capability to write a batch file that uses a third party compression tool during the backup process. You should note, Medisoft v14 sp2 changed the compression algorithm to WinRar instead of WinZip.
8. Our backup solution can be scheduled about any way you need it.

[Dustin]

As far as the remote backups go, I do have something in place already... Actually with the configuration I have not only do i have the mbk backups I can use, but I also have an exact copy of our MediData folder on another server that could be dropped in within minutes and the client machines in our office not even notice the difference.

Still, Sometime I the future I wouldn't mind adding another layer of backups... And the Service MedTech offers sounds like its probably one of the better available.

Before I built the backup system we have now (Back in 2004ish), I literally spent almost a year trying out different remote backup services and they all had a couple of things that were missing that were deal breakers. You seem to have all the different area's covered though.


In any case, I appreciate you passing my list along!

[Gavin Walker]

I am using Handy Backup Pro for my backup solution. I have not found another backup software that has all the features we need at a price range even close to Handy Backup Pro. Feel free to download it and configure the backup software yourself. If you want to use our service, we have an FTP site setup to take the backups and plus we make additional copies on our end.

I am always looking for a better way though, so just curious. What software are you using?

[Dustin]

I use a combination of custom scripts... However I use a windows port of rsync to do most of the heavy lifting. Admittedly, It can be a handful to manage... But it works very well.