Slashdot Mirror
Ask Slashdot: How To Evacuate a Network
First time accepted submitter gpowers writes "I am the IT Manager for Shambhala Mountain Center, near Red Feather Lakes, Colorado. We are in the pre-evacuation area for the High Park Fire. What is the best way to load 50+ workstations, 6 servers, IP phones, networking gear, printers and wireless equipment into a 17-foot U-Haul? We have limited packing supplies. We also need to spend as much time as possible working with the fire crew on fire risk mitigation."
Less posting to Slashdot would be step 1...
Pack what's critical first. Servers. Critical networking gear. Workstations. Ignore the phones, printers and wireless gear unless you've got extra time. And good luck.
"But we decide which is right, and which is an illusion"
Off Site Disaster Recovery and Fire Insurance?
Damn if I'd go in to work to remove hardware when a fire is threatening.
I'm not paid enough to risk my life. Period.
The "best" way to evacuate a data center is to already have off-site back-up for your data in place, drop a fresh copy to portable media, and walk out. The hardware should be insured. The life of your and your people (at least some of whom should probably be helping their families evacuate) are far more valuable than a few months of making your insurer pay for rented hardware until your new machines show up.
First, triage the equipment.
You likely do not have time to pull disks from systems, so pack computers and
external drives first. Get blankets to protect things. Blankets start at the bottom
to act like a shock absorber.
Things like networking gear and wireless stuff is irrelevant compared to the
computers, and probably lighter. If you CAN, sure, save all that stuff too.
But the data comes first. Don't forget backups.
If there are computers with really really important or sensitive stuff, put
those in someones car in the backseat, again with blankets. If I seem
blanket obsessed, it's because I've found them to be available quickly
either from individuals or stores. Yes, bubble wrap or sorbathane would
be better but you aren't likely to have that stuff lying around.
Offsite backup at the very least. Save your data and your people, and let the insurance company take care of the hardware. Loss of productivity is a problem, but you're going to have that anyway.
1. label all hard drives. Drive position, and server.
2. place hard drives in anti-static bags
3. pack drives in foam.
4. get drives far, far away.
Hard drives are both the most valuable, and the most fragile part. Do not load them in a stiff suspension vehicle like a truck, as this bounces the drives. Choose a soft-suspension normal car.
Next take servers and network gear. Desktops are a maybe, as are phones. Ignore printers.
Tape a piece of cardboard over the face of an LCD monitor to protect it from casual bumps.
Above all, no data is worth a human life. No heroics. You're not paid for heroics.
Wow, way to plan for disaster. You should already have had the systems transfered either to a clowd or to your remote site. If you do not you've failed.
So what this gentleman says is correct. If you've not labeled everything including cables and have detailed drawings of the installations wiring you've failed.
So what you do is get out your label maker and tools, shut it all down and label everything. Then pack it as best you can in the truck. You can expect 30-40 percent startup failure when you get them installed and attempt a startup.
You might just want to consider building your next IT center in a shipping container that can be detached and loaded on to a semi. Done properly your UPS and AC systems would keep them alive until you could get to an alternate location with power and network which you should already have contracted for in advance.
Personally I wouldn't take anything unless it is 100% un-replaceable (discontinued systems and since-last-offisite-transfer backups). Remember, your insurance will (if the person that negotiated it wasn't a complete moron) cover ALL hardware that is caught in the fire, they might NOT cover hardware that you broke in the U-Haul truck while trying to save it. You should already have offsite backups, so at the most you should save the "didn't make it to offsite yet" recent backups (1 day to 1 week's worth depending on your setup). For everything else: let it burn, that's what you pay those high insurance premiums for! If your insurance company doesn't like that plan, THEY can move it out of the f*$ing building.
You might just want to consider building your next IT center in a shipping container that can be detached and loaded on to a semi. Done properly your UPS and AC systems would keep them alive until you could get to an alternate location with power and network which you should already have contracted for in advance.
Nods, and seconded... motion to carry.
This strange comment at the bottom of the message is illogical.
As everyone has stated so far, WTF are you doing on Slashdot, when your in an emergency situation. Now, onto my part, WTF are you doing as a IT Manager, and you don't have a critical battle plan, How the hell did you get this job in the first place. Your previous background was not in IT somehow. /done.
First thing first, Grab the essentials. Since you stated 50+ workstations 6 Servers and random IT 'junk' then your most important priority is obviously the data. Whatever your company's business is, I presume you have six servers because the important stuff is done on these servers, and the workstations are really just end user stuff. Park the U-Haul close to the building and get ready to launch.
--1) Mark your machines. IP addresses, Hostnames, etc each machine should be labeled before disconnection. Your first hour can go quick, if you use programs like Nessus, or LanGuard to map your existing network infrastructure. Getting a logical map saved of everything connected is a wise thing to do. Once a logical map is made, and physically your equipment is labeled... Step 2.
--2) Unplug the important. So you have some networking equipment along with your processing equipment(computers/servers) You probably want everything that could be brought back, plugged backed in, and literally your back up and running. Well. Time to grab the essentials. Grab your routers, switches, the Modem will be helpful. Grab the servers, and THEN grab the workstations. Load them up. You have laser printers? Are these printers networked? If so, you may want to grab the most productive Printer you have, and take it with you.
--3) Segment the piles. Obviously people want to keep their 'junk' together, however in a emergency situation, the most important stuff needs to be cared for first. So the IP phones, are probably expendable. Maybe not thePBX device because those can cost upwards in the thousands, so if its located on the wall where it should be, you can probably disconnect it and take it with you. The phones themselves can be expensive as well, but not even close to the device that serves them.
--4) When your out of the way of harm, you probably want to setup temporary shop. So wherever you end up, you are only going to setup the marginal needs to ensure you can pull records/data. So a Hotel, U-Store-It, or even a different office building, your going to need to obtain some replacement temp cabling, and desks.
As you can tell, if you left behind anything during your grab, your going to be spending money to have replacements. Hope the insurance coverage wasn't botched, because this is where you learn your company can get back on its feet. Otherwise, if you lost your data, your dead anyways. At least you have your data.
I could care less about 'Cloud Computing", but it really is a blessing to have some sort of off-site backup procedure in place. While your prepping to move, you could have had your data backing up online/offsite. During the long process, you could have recorded serial numbers, taken photographs of each room (before) along with itemized lists of what was in each room (or associated with each workstation). If you did a good job, you probably now have sufficient records of all your assets ahead of time. But if you suck at your job, you are probably frantic right now, and making bad decisions like asking Slashdot for advice, when you have few hours left.
Now my example of an emergency situation that came up on me at a datacenter (10k workstation/server environment).
Flashflood warning popped up on me, and corporate was out of town. Our datacenter was setup with a T1, Satellite, and a backup (consumer based) Cable Modem services. With our primary switches and routers located in a locked room. When employees started panicking that water was entering the building from the east end(where the ditches and drainage areas were), I kne
dont unbolt the parts it's time wasted and it will make transporting the lot easily while in rack with a buggy .. .if the cat 5's are landed at punchhed patch panels
just unwire the rack and take it out as a whole
you may be able to remove the cabling in large chunks without causing too much damage if any.
computers ? same as above. just take the stations and put them in large bins..If you got an apple producer
of similar large produce cases you may be able to fit all computers in one box which again is handy because
it keeps things together and the screens in the second box . Dont waste time on kb's mice etc unless you have a
lot of time on your hands..
get the heck out and keep people safe is first
hardware comes last.
it's useless to dead people
ric.
http://eddie.niese.net/images/Wiring_BAD.jpg
Take lots of photos. Quick phone camera photos can help put things back right and are quicker than scribbling notes.
You're not even supposed to grab your coat when a building is evacuated. Much less hardware.
That's exactly correct. I've known people that literally got out naked (having been asleep), but they got out of a fire alive. If you know the fire is a risk and you can't replace the hardware for lack of insurance then the move should already be happening now...
"We moved all the stuff for no reason" beats "We lost everything because we waited" every time in the Thoughts of Tomorrow game.
You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
Save your data and your people
but not in that order.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Mod parent and grandparent down, please, and tell both posters what doofuses they are. In hurricane country, do you think people are stupid for taking time to board up windows before leaving too? No. Spending time saving property when a natural disaster or like phenomenon is known to be on the way but remains hours or possibly days away from impacting you is, in fact, a DESIRABLE thing to do. Less property is destroyed. Less time and effort is spent replacing the property. Less time is spent filing insurance paperwork.
Perhaps you're in California and have earthquakes on the brain. It's quite different. This is not "get out or we're all going to die" situation. This is a "be ready to leave town if we tell you to" situation. Sure, if the guys in charge of evacuation tell you "leave IMMEDIATELY omgfire" then you do, and save the people, and throw away the property. But it doesn't always come to that.
Agree the two types of fire are different but what you describe as a 'wildfire' sounds more like a controlled burn.
;)
The Black Saturday fire front here in Oz was moving at 120kmh due to gale force winds coming off the desert, it did most of the damage in a single afternoon. Spot fires were being ignited 20km downwind from the main front which was creating its own local winds due to the massive column of hot smoke rising 15km into the atmosphere. The 3000degC heat from the fire front was leathal at a range of 200 meters, one (un)lucky survivor had his windsceen melt and drip onto his legs while he was taking cover under the dashboard wrapped in a heavy wool blanket. Another similar bushfire I wittnesed up close and personal was the Ash Wednesday fires, both fires continued to burn more or less harmlessly for weeks after the damage was done, at one stage the AW front streached unbroken from Canberra to Mallacoota (~500km)
Yes you may have a few hours warning if your lucky (ie: phone/power/repeaters are still working), but most of time the only warning is a lot of smoke and no bird noises, it makes the roads just as confusing as a smoke filled building, you have no idea where the fire front is or which way it's headed until a 100m high wall of fire runs over you at high speed. Admittedly the Black Saturday fire is an extreme example but a bushfire front moving at highway speeds is not uncommon in this country and I believe smaller fire fronts in California can also reach similar speeds when driven by strong desert winds or running up the side of the Hollywood hills. Footage I've seen of these looks very similar, I recall seeing a yellow timber mansion sitting on top of the ridge, it was being filmed at a distance by a helicopter crew, it's heavily smouldering walls literally exploded into flame before the front even got to them. Much like a piece of paper bursts into flame when held above a candle flame.
Of course as you imply the smart thing to do for any fire is to have a plan before the fire starts, If you invest some non-trivial thought, money, and effort into things like not putting your mansion on top of a natural blow tourch, water tanks, roof sprinklers, pumps, dug-outs, fire-proof windows/shutters, etc, you and your property can stay and fight the worst firestorm, it's a safe bet that at least you will come out the other side relatively unscathed. If you're like most people and your plan is to evacuate, then evacuate, don't fuck around loading a 17 foot trailer or looking for the cat. The servers can be replaced, the trailer is a fucking Albotross on a smoke filled road where you may have difficulty seeing past your hood ornament and may be directed to turn around by fire fighters, and the cat can cope with a bushfire much better than you can.
*You - Not 'you' the AC, rather 'you' the Darwin award candidate that posted the question. A final piece of advise from someone who has wittnessed several serious bushfires first hand, if you are already working with the local fire brigade then ask them for advise on an evacuation plan in the case of bushfire rather than slashdot. I'm certainly no expert but looking at the immediate topology around the center (in 2d via google maps) it looks like the property sits on a small hill that itself sits at the bottom of a large natural bowl in the mountains, it also has a creek or river on one edge. Maybe with their help it would be relatively simple project to set up and defend the property as an official refuge point for the area. Which, if I'm guessing right, would be the kind of thing the center would be eager to advertise to their customers and insurance broker.
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
Can we change
"Save your data and your people"
to
"Save your PEOPLE and your data"
??