Backups (was Re: Deleting a lockfile)

[Kenneth Brody]

On 4/6/2011 1:52 PM, Richard Kreiss wrote:
[...]
> Interesting aside to all of this, when they checked with their outside
> service, who manages their system, they found that the last good backup was
> from December 2010.
>
> Someone messed up the configuration of the backup software when they
> switched from tape to their NAS drive, so it was not being done.
>
> I would suggest to all, check to insure that backups are being done and then
> make sure it can be restored especially if backing up to tape.

Also, never let your hardware service guy touch your backups.  Especially if 
he's fixing a problem that's causing it to eat media.

True story from "way back when".  (ie: floppy-based TRS-80 model II days.)

Client calls up, hoping that someone at sCC could help them restore their 
Profile data from backups.  Turns out they had a hardware problem, where the 
floppy drives would eat the media, and the service guy tried fixing it. 
"Tried", as in "I think it's fixed, give me a disk, and let me see if it's 
working now", only to find that it would still eat the disk.  Repeat, ad 
nauseum, until every single backup copy that they had was destroyed.

I don't know about you, but after around the second round (if not sooner), I 
probably would have told the guy "why don't you try your own disk this time".

I don't recall the outcome.

-- 
Kenneth Brody