As Easy As 3-2-1

I'm constantly talking to clients about backups. A couple of recent crashes will explain why.

I prefer to talk with people about backups before they're needed. Ideally, while we are setting up the network. Roughly half the time I walk into a situation where a server has crashed, I am met with either blank or panicked stares when I ask about the status of their backups.

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Another (bigger) Crash

This week has been a test of endurance and tranquility. 

Photo by BarkIt started out innocently enough, as do most horrific weeks. Monday morning was spent going through my checks, making sure everything was ok. 

The first call was at about noon on Monday. A client's user was having trouble opening a file in their documents folder... there were indications that seemed to point to the file being corrupted. This is obviously a concern, but not earth-shattering. I'll just finish up what I'm doing and... 

The second call wasn't far behind it. This was another user. They were having trouble opening any files in their documents folder. Since the workstations on this network are configured to redirect their documents folder to a shared location, this now tells me that we have corruption on the server, in the user shared directories. Oh, crap. Now it's getting serious, and it means that everyone is affected. It's time to rearrange the schedule and... 

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