Tech Magazine Loses June Issue, No Backup

Gareth writes "Business 2.0, a magazine published by Time, has been warning their readers against the hazards of not taking backups of computer files. So much so that in an article published by them in 2003, they 'likened backups to flossing — everyone knows it's important, but few devote enough thought or energy to it.' Last week, Business 2.0 got caught forgetting to floss as the magazine's editorial system crashed, wiping out all the work that had been done for its June issue. The backup server failed to back up."

Comments

After the swearing stopped.

[AltGrendel]

The first words from management were "You're kidding me, right?"

Then the swearing started again.

Re:After the swearing stopped.

[AK Marc]

You can be using great software, have the logs tell you everything completed successfully, and still have useless backups. I was a consultant at a company. We were brought in to run the IT department that was fired (new management, cleaned house for some good reasons, some bad reasons). They skimped on the number of people they brought in. We were just keeping up with the help desk functions, and mentioned in the daily report that backups hadn't been checked, UPSs were bad, and all sorts of things that required more attention. They specifically told me not to work on the bigger issues (specifically because they thought consultants were evil and I'd just be recommending them spend more money to fix stuff they didn't need, after all, it's working now, right?). Well, one day, we needed to get something from a backup. It turns out that, long before we got there, the tape library was set to record to only one tape. There were 6 tapes in the cartridge. So, there was one successful of the last server backup (the least important server, hence why it was backed up last), and the other 5 tapes were blank. But the job logs correctly relayed that the backups had completed successfully.

So yes, you can have the logs "lie" (report success for useless backups) and have perfectly fine software. Oh, and when I finally left, they had 20 or so desktop UPSs still daisy chained for their server backup power plan, and nothing telling servers to auto-shutdown, so the occasional power failure would corrupt open databases and they had so little uptime that some servers couldn't even finish the shutdown procedure before battery power ran out.

With this much free advertising

[Anonymous Coward]

who needs a magazine?

Nelson Muntz

[erroneous]

Some stories should just come with Nelson Muntz sound files embedded.

Ha-ha!

HAHAHA

[Anonymous Coward]

HAHAHA

Rag

[BigDumbAnimal]

No June issue?

That's OK, nobody reads Business 2.0 anyway.

The laws of the universe

[pseudosero]

Hold true, once again.

Re:The laws of the universe

[MightyYar]

Couldn't they just get it back from one of the P2P networks?

Pr0n still on the way right?

[minotaurcomputing]

As long as those magazines that come in the smarmy black plastic covers still arrive I can't complain.
-m

At this exact moment across the world

[Timberwolf0122]

Tens of IT managers are getting Hundreds of IT minions to check Thousands of backup tapes and befor a senior manager walks in.

Re:They probably still have most of it

[Red Flayer]

Yeah, great, that's the content - now how about the advertising? That's where they make their money.

Editorial department server content was lost. Advertising content is normally handled by the production department.

I think we can all relax and rest assured that the June issue of Business 2.0 will have all its intended advertising.

Re:err...

[morgan_greywolf]

ever heard of verifying backuped data?

Errr...uhh....umm...'verifying'? Uh, I'll be right back!

Coming soon ...

[Stavr0]

The first issue of Business 3.0.

Re:err...

[radtea]

sorry, their MAIN problem is not in any way a dysfunctional backup system. ever heard of verifying backuped data?

I'm sure they've heard of it, in a conversation that went something like this:

IT Guy: We need a system for verifying our backups.

Suit: How come? Don't the backups work?

IT Guy: We need to be sure that if there is a failure, the backups will be ok.

Suit: But they're just copies, aren't they? I copy files all the time and it never goes wrong.

IT Guy: This is a little more complicated than that.

Suit: How hard can it be?

IT Guy: Well, I was thinking we might need to hire a part-timer just to take care of backups and verification.

Suit: But we've never had a failure! Sounds like empire building to me. I know that's what I'd be doing in your position. Nice try. We'll keep the backup system the way it is, thanks.

IT Guy: But..!

Suit: Moving on to the next item on the agenda... ok, Executive Bonuses!

Practicing what they preach

[GuyfromTrinidad]

Since the parent company, Time named "you" the person of the year they were simply following "you" and not doing regular backups

Check out their website: It's 'Dumbtastic!'

[rahimobius]

One of the 'Specials' on the Business 2.0 website:
101 Dumbest Moments in Business

See the video, test your Dumbest knowledge, and let us know what you think was the year's most boneheaded moves. (more)
Quiz: Test your Dumbest knowledge
videoBusiness: It's 'Dumbtastic!'

I think they might want to revise their list. I'm sure I would like to :)

Re:How does this actually happen?

[DebateG]

I once lived with a roommate who got home early one day:

Me: You're home early; not enough work to do?
Roommate: No, the server burned out
Me: Oh, that's no big deal; you just wait for them to get replacement parts and then you get back to it
Roommate: No, seriously, it's burned out. The air conditioning unit failed, the entire server room heated up to the point of spontaneous combustion and the entire server room caught fire

Lesson learned, keep your backups somewhere far, far away from the servers.

Paging Jerry Seinfeld

[shrubya]

Jerry: I don't understand. Do you have my data?
IT: We have your backup, we just can't restore it.
Jerry: But the backup keeps the data here, that's why you have the backup!
IT: I think I know why we have backups.
Jerry: I don't think you do. You see, you know how to MAKE the backup, you just don't know how to RESTORE the backup. And that's really the most important part of the backup: the restoring. Anybody can just make them.

Re:Nelson Says

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

"I think I speak for most of us when I say .... (Score:-1, Redundant)"

Ha ha!

Re:Didn't you read the article?

[njchick]

How about doing a restore practice run whilst at it?

You mean, buckle up the governor and make another crash to test the seatbelt?

Re:We've all been there. Don't be too pious, here.

[osu-neko]

If IT problems drew blood from those who caused them, there would be fewer IT problems. ;)

Re:We've all been there. Don't be too pious, here.

[Nick Number]

RAID does not save you if a bugler steals your machine.

But can he carry my server and his horn at the same time?