Data Protection & Back Ups - Using Myriad Playout Backup To Backup Media & Station Database To Dropbox or Microsoft OneDrive

Modified on Tue, 24 Sep at 12:55 PM

Introduction & Overview Of Backup Options
Setting Up Myriad Playout Backup
Authorising Sync Provider (Dropbox) Access
Setting Up MediaWall Ranges To Synchronise
Setting Up Database Backups
Sync Options
Setting Up Notifications
Settings The Sync To Run Automatically
Main Application
Reseed To/From Cloud (Push everything to the cloud or download everything from the cloud)

Introduction & Overview Of Backup Options

Obviously we all hope to never need to make use of backups but too often, we speak to stations that need to recover from a backup only to find their backed-up data is out of date or worse still, non-existent!

Unfortunately, the modern world provides many reasons you may need to utilise a backup of your data including:

Accidental deletion.
System failure.
Environment issue (fire, water damage, flood etc).
Theft.
Malicious acts.
Viruses, malware and ransomware.

In the event of any of the above (or any other situation that means you cannot access your data), it is important to have a robust, up to date backup that you can use to restore your system and get your station back on air.

The best approach to backup data security is to have a multi-faceted approach that provides you with multiple options for restoring data whilst mitigating as many as the potential risks highlighted above.

Our recommended strategy has four stage approach to securing your data and ensuring it is accessible should you need it.

Onsite backup - The simplest and most obvious precaution. Setting up a scheduled backup to a backup drive located at your site is fast, cost effective and provides the most rapid method for restoring data. It does not offer any protection against Environmental issues, theft or potentially system failure. All you need to implement this precaution is a backup drive. Instructions on how to setup a period backup can be found here - Backup & Restore Myriad Playout v5/6 - Database & Audio.
Offsite backup - This is technically the same as the precaution above except that instead of keeping the data onsite, you remove the data from your location after each backup to mitigate potential data loss from environmental issues, theft or anything else that affects your physical site. The threat of cyber-attack such as ransomware and viruses can also be mitigated to a certain degree by utilising multiple offsite backup drives in rotation meaning that you have complete data set copies going back several months. This is crucial to guard against ransomware as it is common for the malicious code to wait several months before locking your data, to ensure your backups are also locked. We would recommend do an offsite backup at least once a month and (if possible) having data sets stretching back six months. The process of setting this up is the same as the previous precaution, just using a portable drive that can be removed from site once complete - Backup & Restore Myriad Playout v5/6 - Database & Audio.
Cloud backup (Dropbox Pro / Onedrive) using Myriad Playout Backup - Taking the concept of an offsite backup but switching USB drive for a cloud storage service such as Dropbox Pro or Onedrive, offers a number of significant advantages for data security.

These include:
- Increased frequency of backups, you can backup daily or even hourly.
- Data integrity and security. Leverage the infrastructure of large tech companies to ensure your data is secure and accessible at all times.
- Previous versions to guard against ransomware or malicious attach. Both Dropbox Pro and Onedrive offer 'previous versions' allowing you to roll back to earlier versions of data. This helps protect you from ransomware attacks by allowing you to restore data from a point before the ransomware infection (depending on your level of service).
- Instant access from any location.
  
  We recommend that all stations implement this type of backup as it provides a cost effective and robust data security. In order to make implementing this type of process as simple as possible, Myriad 6 Playout includes a dedicated application called Myriad Playout Backup which can be used to automatically backup your MediaWall and Station database to Dropbox Pro or Onedrive. This article will walk you through the setup process.
Myriad Cloud Disaster Recovery - This offers the ultimate solution for broadcast continuity. Subscribers to this service maintain a synchronised copy of their MediaWall, Station Database and latest Scheduled Log (excluding the current hour) along with a 'warm standby' Myriad Cloud system that can be activated to take over broadcasting duties as required. The reason this offers the most comprehensive solution is that all the over precautions will require some time to recover data and get your station back 'on air', but Myriad Cloud Disaster Recover allows you to start broadcasting from the cloud within minutes of a disaster at your station. It can also be used proactively to provide broadcast continuity to allow for scheduled maintenance or training at your main broadcast location. For more details about our Myriad Cloud Disaster Recover service, contact our sales team.

Setting Up Myriad Playout Backup

In order to make use of Myriad Playout Backup to protect your audio and station data, you will need the following prerequisites:

Myriad 6 Playout (Studio)
Dropbox Pro (recommended option) or OneDrive subscription - with suitable storage capacity and features.

Authorising Sync Provider (Dropbox) Access

To setup Myriad Playout Backup to access your Sync Provider, follow these steps:

Download and install the Myriad Support Applications installer on the PC you want to run Myriad Playout Backup on (this is the installed used to install RES and Autoimporter so you may have already done this). You can download the latest installers here - Myriad 6 Playout Support (broadcastradio.com.
Run the Myriad Playout Backup application. We do not add a icon to your Start Menu so you will need to navigate to the applications directly.

The default installation path is: C:\Program Files (x86)\Broadcast Radio\Myriad Playout Backup v6 and you need to run MyriadPlayoutBackup6.exe.
On the Sync Settings tab, select the Sync Provider you want to use from the drop down list. In this example we will use Dropbox but the process is very similar for Onedrive.
Next, in the Sync Provider Settings section, click on the Authenticate button.
Click on the Dropbox Login button.
Login to your Dropbox account using your Email and Password (or Apple ID etc).
Dropbox may ask you to verify that your are a real person (not a robot) by completing a simple puzzle.
Once you have verified, you will see a warning asking you to confirm you want to proceed. This is typically because our applications are more specalised than most connecting to the provider so the overall volume of applications requesting connection is low. Click on Continue
Click on the Allow button to allow Myriad Playout Backup to access your Dropbox account.
Next you will see a access code displayed. You need to copy this code (make sure you get it all) and paste it into the box at the top of the window. Once you have pasted the code in correctly, click Continue.
You will now see that the Myriad Playout Backup application can successfully access your Dropbox account.

Setting Up MediaWall Ranges To Synchronise

Now that Myriad Playout Backup is setup to access your Dropbox account, it is time to setup the Media you want to include in your backup.

You can choose to backup everything or just selected ranges.

To add a range of Media to backup, follow these steps:

In the Media Section, click on the New Media Range button.
Add in the Start & End Media ID's you want to include in this sync.

In the example above, all the Media from Media ID 735 to Media ID 740 (inclusive) will be backed up to the Dropbox account.

If you want to backup your entire MediaWall then simply set to start at Media ID 1 and end at Media ID 99999 (or whatever your maximum Media ID is).

When you are happy click on OK
You will see the Media Range listed in the Media to Sync section.
You can add as many Media Ranges as you like to this section.

Setting Up Database Backups

You can also use Myriad Playout Backup to store a backup of your Station Database (which includes your settings, Myriad Schedule etc), on your Sync Providers platform.

N.B. You need to have setup your system to regularly create SQL backups which will then be uploaded to your Sync Provide - See Backup & Restore Myriad Playout v5/6 - Database & Audio

To enable this feature follow these steps:

Click on the Database Backups tab.
Tick the Copy Database Backup option and browse to the folder where your SQL backups are being saved to.
You can also set how often Myriad Playout Backup checks the folder to see if there is a new backup to replicate to your Sync Provider.
Myriad Playout Backup will now replicate the SQL backup file to your selected Sync Provider.

Sync Options

The Sync Options tab allows you adjust some of the parameters used by the application when synchronising content.

The options on this tab include:

Number of seconds to wait before deleting an item from the cloud - This option allows you to add a configurable delay between an item being deleted from the local MediaWall and when the application will delete it from the copy on Dropbox etc. This is a useful option as it gives you the opportunity to recover items deleted accidentally.
Number of seconds to wait before uploading an item to the cloud - This allows you to set the delay between when a new item is added to the MediaWall and when Myriad Playout Backup will copy the item to the cloud repository.

Setting Up Notifications

Note: This option is not available on initial setup and can only be edited by going back into the Sync settings.

The Notifications tab allows you to set the conditions and methods the application will use to notify you of certain events. Simply add in the connection details to the right of each notification condition.

Click on the ? button to view the notification options.

Settings The Sync To Run Automatically

You can set the synchronisation to automatically start using the Automatically Start switch at the top of the window.

When you are happy with all your settings, click on the OK button.

Main Application

Once you have setup your Media Sync, the main application interface will be visible.

From here you can see a list of recent synchronisation history as well as toggle the Media Sync on and off.

You can also access a range of features from the Menu options.

File > Exit - Closes the application.
Media Sync > Edit Media Sync - Allows you to edit the settings for the Media Sync.
Media Sync > Start All Syncs - Will force all configured Media Syncs to the On status.
Media Sync > Stop All Syncs - Will force all configured Media Syncs to the Off status.
Media Sync > Sync Report - Displays a list of recent activity.
Tools > Re-seed To/From Cloud - Initiate a sync from cloud to local, local to cloud or a merge of the two (see below).
Tools > Media Browser - Opens the Media Browser to allow you to browse the MediaWall.
Settings > Applications Settings - This allows you to alter the basic settings for the Myriad Playout Backup application. In here you can set the location of your Myriad SQL database, data files and MediaWall. Please note that you only need to set these if you do not have Myriad Playout configured on the same PC.

You can also set whether the application minimises to the 'System Tray' and also whether the application should start minimised using the Application tab.
Help > Version History - Displays the release notes and version history for the application.
Help > About - Shows the version number of the application.

Reseed To/From Cloud (Push everything to the cloud or download everything from the cloud)

If you need to upload everything to your Sync Provider or if you need to download everything from your Sync Provider, you can use the Reseed To/From Cloud option on the Tools Menu.

Selecting this option will open the Reseed To/From Cloud to initiate the process.

The options are:

Pull Media from Cloud - This will download everything from the cloud, overwriting or deleting everything local.
Push Media up to Cloud - This will upload all the local content to the cloud overwriting or deleting all content in the cloud.
Merge - This will synchronise the two system with new or new items being uploaded or downloaded accordingly. This means that if the local media is newer on your local copy (or does not exist in the cloud), this will be uploaded to the cloud. If the version on the cloud is newer (or the items does not exist locally), it will be downloaded from the cloud. This process will not delete any items from either the local or cloud repositories.

Once you have selected Reseed Type, click on the Next button to begin the process.

Myriad Playout Backup will upload or download content according to the selected options.