Data archiving is basically taking a "snapshot" of the data on a machine. If there is a need to recover an old file or old data that may have been deleted, data archiving might be your only saving grace. The following tale chronicles the fall and re-birth of a large construction company somewhere in Northern New Jersey. The lesson to be learned here: backup your data, check the logs daily and make sure you have an archive!
Note: the names of everyone and everything have been changed.
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A long time ago, in an office not too far away.
"You sure your backups are okay? If anything goes wrong during this hard disk upgrade, those little tapes are all you'll have left. Wanna run one just to see if they're okay?" remarked DeckerWright Corp's IT guru Rupert Gilford.
"Nah, that's alright, we'll be fine" scoffed the head man of the Fabio Construction company, a dude named Francisco Macchiato. "We did our backups. No need to check 'em. Our secretary, Jane, does 'em every morning. Just ask her." He pointed to the cute little secretary sitting tentatively behind a nearby desk. She nodded vigorously, confirming Francisco's remark. "Let's just get this over with."
"Okay then, let's get started. You might be down for a while. Just let everyone know." With that, Rupert disappeared into the dank server room.
And so the upgrade of the construction company's servers began. Francisco went about his day, not thinking twice about the procedure happening in his office, not fully aware of the possible consequences of losing all his company's data. His thoughts were on other things, such as the company's current, huge project and his own pending deal with the most feared mob boss in the nation.
After four hours of intense server work, Rupert emerged from the server room somewhat shaken. He wiped a line of sweat from his brow, then took a long swig of Mountain Dew.
"Alright, the hardware upgrade went fine, but we'll need to restore the data from the backup tapes. Where are the tapes? We'll start with yesterday's."
Jane led him to the immense stack of tapes. Rupert glanced at the labels and picked up the one with the most recent date.
"Here's the most current critter right here. Lemme just put it into the server and.oh my God."
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Francisco was out to lunch when he heard the news.
"You've GOTTA be [kidding] me. How the [heck] could that have happened? I'll be back as soon as I can." He shut his phone, dread coursing through his veins. The words of Big Vinny ran through his head again: "You [mess] up this hard disk upgrade, I'll reserve you a mile post in the Route 287 project." No, thought Francisco, this can't be happening.
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Rupert sat back in disbelief. Nothing was happening. The tape was showing up blank. Blank. He tested it again. Looked at the drive partitions. Tried selecting the tape again. Nothing.
"Alright, maybe it's just a bad tape," he swallowed, " I'll try another." Rupert took the second most recent tape and jammed it into the drive. Reboot. Nothing. He took another tape. Tried again. No response from the server. Rupert's worst fears were beginning to catch up with him. He tried the last tape, one from two weeks ago. The screen refreshed. Nothing. The tapes were blank. Every single one. Somehow, the backup process had gone awry. Somewhere, something had gone wrong. But Francisco had said that Jane had dutifully, every morning, taken out the old tape and put in a new one. Jane herself had justified Francisco's statement. And what about the stacks of neatly labeled tapes? Surely, the backups had been run. Just then Francisco burst through the office door, eyes frantic and face pale.
He tried to keep his cool.
"So what's the matter with these tapes? Where's all the data? I thought the backup ran."
Rupert didn't quite know how to answer. There was a slight pause as Rupert collected his thoughts. Francisco shifted on his feet anxiously before him, balling his fists and jamming them into his pockets.
"I don't know. I just don't know." Rupert shook his head. It was all he could say. "I thought it ran too. The tapes are all there. There's nothing on them."
"I need that data. I can't afford to lose it. I just can't." Francisco was near hysterics, beads of sweat forming on his face. "I need that data."
"Wait a minute.don't you have monthly archive backups as well?" A light was beginning to go off in Rupert's head. "We could use those. Surely one of them has to have something. "
Francisco could barely contain himself. A glimmer of hope. No concrete coffin for me, he thought. "They're over here. Follow me."
He brought Rupert to a dusty file cabinet in the depths of the office. Some old closet. He crouched down and opened the bottom drawer. It creaked open. Inside were six small plastic boxes, crudely tossed inside. Unable to remain data-less any longer, Francisco scooped up some tapes and rushed back to the server room, Rupert right on his heels. He dumped them onto the desk.
"Here. Make it work." And with that, Francisco hurried out of the room.
Rupert looked at the labels and selected the one with the most recent date. He opened the box. Slipped the tape into the drive. Hit the power button. The machine whirred to life. Rupert waited with bated breath. The screen flashed some text. Rupert stared, then reached into his pocket for his phone. He needed to make a call.
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The cell phone buzzed, dancing its way across the bar counter. Sven Technissen glanced at it, took a swig of beer, then picked it up. Recognized the number.
"Yeah, it's Sven. Alright. Whoaaa..you sure about that? Okay.okay.no, I'm at a bar.alright.you sure the backups ran? .Okay, okay.be there a few," he said with a sigh. He snapped his phone shut and dropped it on the counter. "Backups!" he grunted, "why does it always have to be backups?"
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The little office looked like a war zone. Papers were strewn about the floor. A desk chair lay overturned. A coffee mug lay tipped over on a desk, its precious brown contents encroaching on the edge of the desk. Sven entered, soaking in the scene before him.
"Thank God you're here!" Jane rushed over. "I don't know what happened. I just heard some screaming from the server room and a weird light flashing from the door. I got startled so I hid under my desk. And Rupert.I haven't seen him since." she looked at the mess behind her.
Sven looked around. "This is what happens when backups go awry. But I've never seen it this bad. Where's the server room?"
"This way..." Jane wound her way through the debris, Sven following close behind.
They arrived at the door of the server room. "Stand back." Sven kicked open the already slightly-opened door. On the metal folding chair where Rupert Gilford once sat in perplexity was a pile of ash and bones. Jane screamed, then fainted. Sven took no notice. She quickly recovered and was right back at his side.
"That's one heck of a bad backup. Look at this.five tape boxes. One's open. Hmm.now, where is it?" He picked up the empty box.
Sven stepped over to the server and pushed the eject button for the tape drive. A tape popped out.
"Oh. It was already in the server. And judging from the looks of this place, it didn't work out too well. Alright, I'm gonna try another tape. This one.from, let's see, two months ago. Now, when I tell you to, shield your eyes. Okay?"
Jane nodded. Sven picked up the tape and put it in the drive. Hit the power button. The machine whirred to life.
"Alright.NOW!" Sven and Jane squeezed their eyes shut. Instantly, a manic wind filled the server room. Lights flashed. Papers and loose items fluttered about.
"Whatever you do, do NOT open your eyes! Don't look at it!" Sven shouted above the ruckus. After a few seconds, "This tape isn't working." He felt for the monitor and shut it off. The wind died and the papers settled. The two stood for a moment, then opened their eyes.
"You know, you should probably just stand outside. You'll be fine out there." Sven nodded toward the door and grabbed another tape. Jane went into the hallway and waited outside the server room.
"WHOOAAAA..." A plume of papers erupted from the open door. "THAT'S NOT IT. Alright, trying another."
Again, the wind and lights. "Nope, not that one" Sven said after the wind died down again. "Looks like that was the last one."
A look of puzzlement flashed across Jane's face. "Wait," exclaimed Jane as she entered the server room, "there are supposed to be six tapes there. We've only used five. Where's the last one?"
"Right here." A silhouetted figure appeared in the door. Jane and Sven stood, shielding their eyes against the harsh glare from outside. The figure entered the room. It was Rupert. Jane's mouth dropped open in amazement.
"I.I.I thought you."
"Yeah, so did I. Wait.what's that on the chair? Oh crap! That's my KFC! Aw, man, I was really looking forward to eating that. Oh well," he shrugged. "Anyway, I've got the last tape right here. Musta fallen out of its case back in the storage room."
The three shuffled around in the tiny server room as Rupert made his way to the server. He popped out the old tape and inserted the new one. Started the machine. It came up. Sven and Jane braced for the coming storm. Rupert looked away and attempted to salvage a piece of chicken from the pile of scraps on the chair. He glanced back at the monitor.
"FINALLY, a tape that works," he threw his hands up in the air. "Looks like Fabio's gonna get their data back after all. Good thing they archived their data every month for six months," and all three burst out into laughter, relieved that crisis had reached its end.
Rupert Gilford had once again saved the day, with a little help from Sven Technissen. The upgrade was completed, albeit with slightly out-of-date data. Francisco never made his mile marker reservation and his business was saved, thanks to.BACKUPS!
About the Author Dek Wright:
Dek Wright, the son of DeckerWright Corp's head honcho Marshall Wright, is a third-year engineering student at the University of New Orleans studying Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. During the summers, Dek works at DeckerWright Corp and has recently begun writing suspenseful, compelling tales for the DWC e-Newsletter and blog.
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