[Info-vax] Long uptime cut short by Hurricane Sandy

[VAXman- at SendSpamHere.ORG]

In article <kdunhn$gek$1 at dont-email.me>, Stephen Hoffman <seaohveh at hoffmanlabs.invalid> writes:
>On 2013-01-25 19:31:20 +0000, AEF said:
>
>> On Jan 25, 2:47 pm, Stephen Hoffman <seaoh... at hoffmanlabs.invalid>
>> wrote:
>>> On 2013-01-25 18:34:48 +0000, Bill Gunshannon said:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> And less than a month ago we heard right here:
>>> 
>>>>         >> Long server uptimes are the antithesis of testing.
>>> 
>>>> Go figure....
>>> 
>>> And you'll hear it again.   That, and the benefits of testing your DT.
>> 
>> DT?
>
>Disaster Tolerance.
>
>> I don't know. People used to brag of long uptimes here.
>
>Yep.  I thought it was cool, too.  Then I thought of the implications 
>of what it meant.
>
>> Usage of these systems has been stable to the nth degree. No hardware
>> changes. No software changes. Almost zero use and not in the least bit
>> critical.
>
>Uh-huh.
>Have you not noticed the flurry of reboot problems with some subset of 
>Alpha systems?
>If you don't test it, you can't be sure it'll work.
>
>> I've been the only user on the first box during this time period. I
>> use it for occasional tasks that could be done elsewhere if really
>> needed. OK, some monitoring for a short while, which was also stable.
>> 
>> No one's used the second box at all for almost as long.
>> 
>> Don't judge without all the facts.
>
>So.  Will your box reboot automatically?  Are you feeling lucky?  Do 
>you have all the facts?
>
>Uptime looks great.  On paper.  Then you slam into reality.  Mistakes 
>happen.  Latent bugs become less-than-latent.  That's why we test.

Well, my systems didn't boast large uptimes but my cluster incarnation was,
prior to 10 days in the dark due to Sandy and subsequence freak Nor'easter
snowstorm, 1998... pre Y2K!  Had it not been that the transformer outside
my home blew-up on the evening of Sandy's landfall here on the proNJ coast
taking out my UPS in a literal "blaze-of-glory", I might have kept that 
incarnation date on going.  Of course, sooner or later, I'd have lost out.
It was just too difficult to get gas to keep the generator running around
the clock.

-- 
VAXman- A Bored Certified VMS Kernel Mode Hacker    VAXman(at)TMESIS(dot)ORG

Well I speak to machines with the voice of humanity.