Cloud and Compatibility
The Shopkeeper, being a server-based application with textual interface, is ideally suited to hosting on the cloud. The user workstations are text terminals thus the data traffic is very low.
The low data traffic means faster speeds and minimal data usage to JSK from any smart device with an internet connection. Data cost – even if 3G cellphone data is used – is not an issue.
With The Shopkeeper there is no charge for additional workstations and this takes advantage of the fact that the system can be accessed from anywhere at any time on any modern smartphone, tablet or computer, at negligible cost.
In cases where a large number of users are located at a central premises, and particularly if a large number of photographs are being stored, it might be better to install a dedicated server on the premises. This is more costly than using a cloud server but it will be noticeably faster for recording new photographs and is independent of the internet for those users located in the same premises as the server.
Self-hosting also adds the requirement for battery power backup and a dust-free location to place the server. Users outside these premises will be entirely dependent on the ADSL service where the server is hosted - - 3G cannot be used as a fall-back in case of ADSL failure unless a special unrestricted APN is used.
A self-hosted server might also require more internet data usage than would be the case if one was using a cloud server because all data backups and program updates must be done through the internet.
We take full responsibility for your backups, these are kept safely off site, in duplicate, with incremental data stored for 400 days. Shopkeeper Solutions are keeping backups of the cloud server data as well as dedicated physical servers. These backups are being refreshed 4 times per day in the case of cloud servers, and twice per day for physical servers.
Due to error reports being automatically sent to us by email, and access of the server via the Internet (securely encrypted), we are able to assist remotely, most often before the problem is reported by the user.
Our cloud servers are proving to be extremely reliable. some have been running for over 2 years without a re-boot. But should a cloud server fail, we will move your data to a different server within a day at no charge and with a maximum of four hours of data loss. The cloud server providers also keep backups, so a compete restore is unlikely to be needed - but often we are asked to restore data that was unintentionally deleted of modified by the user. It is for this selective restore as at a prior date and time that the backup system that we use is uniquely valuable.