Let’s assume that you got into unpleasant situation, where you do not have resent backup of your SQL Server databases, and your RAID disks failed to the level where recovery should be given to the hands of the professional data recovery firm.
This is really not an ideal situation, but there is still some hope, that portion of the failed hard drives could be recovered. In this small paper we would like to give you the directions on what needs to be recovered as the top priority. First we will give you the scenario, where we assume that you are on MS SQL Server 2008, 2005, 2000, or 7.0: versions 2010, 10.0, 9.0, 8.0, 7.5, 7.0, 6.0, 5.5, 5.0 and then we will look at the older versions of Great Plains Dynamics on Pervasive SQL 2000/Btrieve and Accounting for DOS, Windows or Mac:
1. SQL Server based version. Here the files to recover have .MDF extension. The system database is GPS DynamicsDat.mdf. You should have at least one company where Dynamics part of the file name is replaced by your company DB abbreviation. There are chances, that you have more than one company. In the scenario, where you company abbreviation is One the file to look for is GPSOneDat.mdf
2. Additional files that are good candidates for recovery, but not required. First one is Reports.dic – where your modified reports, such as SOP Blank Invoice form with logo are hosted. Second one is probably from FRx Financial Reporting – what is critical for FRx recovery is Sysdata folder and the file to look for is FRxrpts.f32. The third candidate is likely to be Integration Manager metadata file: IM.MDB
3. Redeployment technologies. In the case of FRx or IM you have to simply recover the files and call your Great Plains consultant for further instructions. When you are lucky to recover SQL Server DB files – the next step is to install Microsoft SQL Server on the new server and try to reattach DB files. Review the instructions to sp_attach_db procedure (probably single file version: sp_attach_db_single_file, if you have no luck to restore log file – but log file is optional). If you were able to attach databases, the next step is to call your consultant on transferring user logins and passwords, modifying Dynamics.set file from the user workstations side to reflect new path reporting dictionaries
4. Older versions on Pervasive SQL 2000/Btrieve or Ctree. Here you need to look for BTR (Btrieve or its successor Pervasive SQL 2000) or DAT file extensions. These files typically reside in the Dynamics folder on the server. If you open this folder you should see System and companies subfolders. When you are redeploying the data on the new computer, please be sure that you are doing it on the 32 bit version of the Microsoft Windows 2003/2008 server or 32 bit Vista, Windows XP or Windows 7. You will need Pervasive SQL 2000 installation CD (with registration key diskette)
5. Great Plains DOS, Windows or Mac Accounting versions 9.5, 9.2 and earlier. Here you have Btrieve database platform, which could be deployed on Pervasive SQL 2000 32 bit version. You should try to concentrate on the recovery of the GPS folder of your crashed server. GPA nowadays is usually in inquiry only mode, meaning that you do not have to place it on the server-client environment, you can just deploy it on Intel Atom processor based Netbook (WindowsXP 32 bit). Please, note that GPA is not compatible with Windows 7, Vista or XP 64 bit version, as this application installation media was issued back in earlier 2000, where 64 bit processing was not known. We saw multiple situations, where we were instructing GPA recovering customers to purchase Windows XP 32 bit computer, and they simply went to BestBuy or TigerDirect and purchased the cheapest Windows 7 on AMD or Intel processor platform
6. Some advices. It is very unlikely that previous consulting organization left you without SQL Server Agent file based or tape backup (Arcserve, Seagate or another brand). Also RAID 5 SCSI hard disks set is recoverable, assuming that the only one HD failed. We encourage you to talk to your IT manager or Networking consultant, maybe they are not aware about the simple way to restore status quo
7. Support domestically in the USA, Canada, Mexico and internationally. This option is possible via Web Sessions, Skype or Phone conferences and direct visits onsite (in the case of the large scale project). Our consulting team speaks English, Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian, Filipino. Feel free to call us 1-866-304-3265, 1-269-605-4904, or email help@efaru.com
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