Data Integrity Checks Made Easy
Posted by Bonnie Wittmeier on Fri, Jul 31, 2009 @ 10:00 AM
One of the most common questions that I ask a client who has phoned for tech support is "have you run a data integrity check?" Two of the most common answers that I receive are:
1) What's a data integrity check?
2) No.
Regular data integrity checks are very beneficial to help identify a data issue before it turns into a huge crisis. However, data checks can take anywhere from 2 minutes to 2 days to run, and it is simply one additional task to add to a users already full day. So, it is understandable that the process gets skipped.
One of the best tools to combat this problem is the Process Scheduler software from Orchid. This piece of software works with the Windows Task Manager and Sage Accpac to run the data integrity checks automatically at a pre-scheduled time (like in the middle of the night when it is least disruptive). When the check is complete, it sends an email with the results of the check and a link to the log file where the report is stored. All you have to do, then, is check your email! And we all do that every day already, don't we?
If there are no errors, the email will say 'successful' and if there are errors, a link to the log file is provided, this log will display the error messages.
In addition to running data integrity checks automatically, the Process Scheduler can also run database dumps of your data - this gives you the added security of a regular backup. The Process Scheduler Enterprise edition can run your Day End Processing and even post your batches for you! So, if you have Process Scheduler and aren't using it - let us know and we'll set it up for you.
If you don't have Process Scheduler yet, call us, and we will get it for you.
The next time you need tech support and you are asked if you have a data integrity report, say... YES!