Why Mirroring Is Not a Backup Solution 711
Craig writes "Journalspace.com has fallen and can't get up. The post on their site describes how their entire database was overwritten through either some inconceivable OS or application bug, or more likely a malicious act. Regardless of how the data was lost, their undoing appears to have been that they treated drive mirroring as a backup and have now paid the ultimate price for not having point-in-time backups of the data that was their business." The site had been in business since 2002 and had an Alexa page rank of 106,881. Quantcast said they had 14,000 monthly visitors recently. No word on how many thousands of bloggers' entire output has evaporated.
Again a frost post to a red story (Score:5, Funny)
While this mirrors previous comments, it's not really a backup solution.
Excellent! (Score:5, Funny)
Thank you (Score:3, Funny)
Inconceivable? (Score:4, Funny)
I do not think it means what you think it means.
Re:stunned silence (Score:5, Funny)
I am experiencing a strange phenomenon. The jaw-drop reflex has been popping my mouth open for several minutes and won't stop. If I focus I can close it, but then it pops open again. wow.
To the HR department (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Excellent! (Score:5, Funny)
Ironically, it's more useful than the entire collection of blogs that they stored.
Re:The rules of backups (Score:2, Funny)
1. Do not talk about backups
2. DO NOT TALK ABOUT BACKUPS
Someone needs to be FIRED (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Dear Every Corporate Tool in the Universe: (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Dear Every Corporate Tool in the Universe: (Score:5, Funny)
Screw that!! IT Departments are cost centers and have absolutely no benefit to the bottom line of a company... none at all... nope.
Re:Someone needs to be FIRED (Score:2, Funny)
Re:El Oh El (Score:4, Funny)
Re:rm -rf / (Score:5, Funny)
C:\>rm -rf /
'rm' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
Everything's still running here...
If you can't be a good example... (Score:1, Funny)
"If you can't be a good example, you'll just have to be a horrible warning."
Catherine Aird
Quoted in the Book Practical UNIX & Internet Security
Re:DUH! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:rm -rf / (Score:3, Funny)
Ha! I store all my data in directory names!
Re:Dear Every Corporate Tool in the Universe: (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Dear Every Corporate Tool in the Universe: (Score:3, Funny)
Pay the salary of someone smart enough to handle your data correctly if you have no interest in becoming smart yourself.
The first step is admitting you are stupid. That is hard for most people. Of course today they are having NO trouble making that cognitive leap...
Re:DUH! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:To the HR department (Score:2, Funny)
Re:To many shops think HA==DR (Score:5, Funny)
I tried Googling, but the only results I got were a medical office in Chinatown.....
Re:rm -rf / (Score:3, Funny)
$ del C:\*.* /s /q /y
-bash: del: command not found
Guys...
Re:Dear Every Corporate Tool in the Universe: (Score:5, Funny)
Re:rm -rf / (Score:3, Funny)
How to backup, the Slashdot way (Score:1, Funny)
1. The file system must be ZFS. If your FS' acronym is more than 4 characters long, your data is fucked from the beginning.
2. Backup often: if it's not done every five minutes, your data is stale and totally not fresh.
3. Off-site backups: you need to Fedex your shit to five different corners of the world at a minimum. If a fire breaks out, you can call your offices in Uganda for the restore disks/tapes.
4. Secure your backups: keep guard dogs, armed mercenaries and Jason Statham nearby. In the likely event that your hard drives get jacked, you can always rely on Statham to kick down a door or two to save the day.
5. ???
6. Profit.
Re:DUH! (Score:5, Funny)
Journalspace CTO: We don't need an expensive off-site backup solution b/c we mirror all of our data real-time. It's genius!
-entire database gets overwritten-
Journalspace CTO: Ohhhhhh...now I get it.
Re:Mirroring (Score:5, Funny)
There's a major flaw in your analogy. See, if I stick a fork in my right eye, the mirror image will stick a fork in his left eye. Between the two of us, however, we still have one good left AND right eye. So ipso fatso, I have a complete backup.
Re:DUH! (Score:5, Funny)
What about archive.org?
Ah, apparently not... [archive.org] :-D
Re:rm -rf / (Score:3, Funny)
operators make mistakes... the higher up they are paid the more likely they are to do it. Take the manager covering for somebody on vacation... they jump in and mistype something... boom! data gone. Happens to the best of us... the really good ones have ways in place to make sure mistakes have a way of being undone.
how many AS400 operators typed PWRDWNSYS *IMMED and got a surprise!
Re:DUH! (Score:5, Funny)
Darwin awards (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Double Duh! (Score:2, Funny)
Their admin is criminally incompetent.
Isn't that the same as saying "they had a Mac admin"?
tape backs up perfectly.... (Score:2, Funny)
Seth