| 'The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry...' | | | | Pretty slick, right? I thought so too. And, well, it was |
| Thus the paraphrase goes of the words of the great | | | | good planning. And it was pretty slick. But remember |
| Scottish poet Robert Burns. These words ring very | | | | the words of the old Scottish sage. 'The best laid |
| true to me this morning. You see, my software | | | | plans...' |
| company has leased a server for almost three years | | | | Over the weekend, Saturday night to be exact, we |
| now, at a hefty monthly fee. This server has hosted a | | | | were hit by a very forceful storm. Lightning and |
| number of websites for various clients and has really | | | | thunder came crashing in and seemed determined to |
| been a great, if somewhat expensive, asset. Finally, | | | | destroy as much as possible before moving on. And |
| however, I decided that it was time to bring this | | | | destroy they did. As I came into the office on Sunday |
| in-house, as they say. So, I got some office space, a | | | | afternoon to do some work, I noticed that the network |
| phone line, and a business-class DSL line that would | | | | router was dead. Then I noticed that the phone was |
| provide more than enough bandwidth to serve what I | | | | dead. Then the server that I had spent so much time |
| needed. I then converted a powerhouse PC into a | | | | installing and configuring and losing sleep to get ready |
| web server to host some web sites owned by my | | | | was, you guessed it, fried. |
| company, Centrant LLC. For web hosting clients that | | | | Does this stop me from moving the server? Nope. It |
| need more than what DSL service can provide, and | | | | only means that it will take a little longer to get it going, |
| for purposes of redundancy, I have a number of | | | | and it will take a little more money to replace some |
| partnerships that allow me to provide the service level | | | | things. I'll have to pay for that leased server one more |
| that is required. | | | | month maybe, and this time I will make sure that there |
| All the bases were covered. | | | | are redundant surge protections in place. Did I lose any |
| All set with my arsenal of cost saving new toys, I was | | | | data? Again, nope. I've learned to make backups often. |
| almost ready to make the switch from my leased | | | | Did any site go down as a result of this? Nope. |
| server to the new one sitting in the corner of my new | | | | Everything is working great as far as my clients are |
| office. I had spent hours installing software and | | | | concerned-- remember that there are partnerships in |
| configuring the server. It was almost ready. Already | | | | place that I can utilize to protect against any loss of |
| locked down tight so hackers would have a very | | | | service. |
| tough time trying to break in, all that was left was to | | | | It was a big personal let down, however. I put a |
| install anti-virus and anti-spam software to protect | | | | tremendous amount of work into something and now |
| those who would use the server for email. The result | | | | have to start over. But, it was neither the first nor the |
| of around 40 hours of work was at hand, and I would | | | | last time that I've had to start over, and this time I'll do it |
| finally be able to stop paying those outrageous monthly | | | | faster and better. |
| bills for a server located half a country away. | | | | What's the point of telling you all this? Where's the |
| Now, I know better than to leave any piece of | | | | 'Tech Tip', you might wonder. The tip for this week is |
| electronic equipment unprotected. Believe me, I've | | | | that, even when you do everything right, sometimes |
| learned that mistake the hard way. A few times. So, I | | | | things just go wrong. Every phone line and Internet |
| made sure that all the equipment was under the | | | | connection in the entire building that houses my new |
| constant watch of a quality surge protector. The | | | | office space was dealt a lethal blow. A direct hit can |
| server itself, since it is so valuable, was even removed | | | | wreak havoc on any computer system. You know, |
| again from other equipment so that an intermediary | | | | now that I think of it, this applies to life in general, not |
| device would have to first succumb before the server | | | | just computers. Hmm, interesting. |
| was hit by a surge of electricity. Not bad planning, huh? | | | | |