Comments on: Screams as systems administration alert method http://www.openxtra.co.uk/blog/screams-as-systems-administration-alert-method/ Your daily IT cuppa Mon, 08 Mar 2010 00:45:34 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Matt Simmons http://www.openxtra.co.uk/blog/screams-as-systems-administration-alert-method/comment-page-1/#comment-6944 Matt Simmons Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:36:35 +0000 http://www.openxtra.co.uk/blog/?p=935#comment-6944 @Jack Hughes My parenthetical comment was sardonic, but thanks! ;-) Happy Halloween @Jack Hughes

My parenthetical comment was sardonic, but thanks! ;-)

Happy Halloween

]]> By: Jack Hughes http://www.openxtra.co.uk/blog/screams-as-systems-administration-alert-method/comment-page-1/#comment-6943 Jack Hughes Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:30:01 +0000 http://www.openxtra.co.uk/blog/?p=935#comment-6943 @Matt - proactive monitoring = getting your monitoring system to tell you when something has failed rather than letting your customers tell you. In the case of a UPS they usually have at least one dry contact that indicates whether it is operational or not. You can then hook the dry contact up to something that will monitor the status of the dry contact to alarm you in some way when it indicates a problem. It wouldn't stop the battery exploding but it would alert you when it happens not when you happen to go into the data centre to check on things ie usually on a Monday morning when the last thing you want to deal with is a major disaster. @Matt – proactive monitoring = getting your monitoring system to tell you when something has failed rather than letting your customers tell you. In the case of a UPS they usually have at least one dry contact that indicates whether it is operational or not. You can then hook the dry contact up to something that will monitor the status of the dry contact to alarm you in some way when it indicates a problem. It wouldn’t stop the battery exploding but it would alert you when it happens not when you happen to go into the data centre to check on things ie usually on a Monday morning when the last thing you want to deal with is a major disaster.

]]> By: Matt Simmons http://www.openxtra.co.uk/blog/screams-as-systems-administration-alert-method/comment-page-1/#comment-6942 Matt Simmons Fri, 31 Oct 2008 13:07:35 +0000 http://www.openxtra.co.uk/blog/?p=935#comment-6942 Only once in my life have I ever encountered a problem that would have generated a scream, and no one (thankfully) was there at the time. Back when I worked for an ISP in West Virginia, one of our UPSes had a car battery in it. Something happened and the car battery exploded. We came in the next morning (proactive monitoring? what's that?) and there was acid all over the floor and the desk in front of the UPS. If someone would have been sitting at the desk, they would still have the scars to show for it. Only once in my life have I ever encountered a problem that would have generated a scream, and no one (thankfully) was there at the time.

Back when I worked for an ISP in West Virginia, one of our UPSes had a car battery in it. Something happened and the car battery exploded. We came in the next morning (proactive monitoring? what’s that?) and there was acid all over the floor and the desk in front of the UPS. If someone would have been sitting at the desk, they would still have the scars to show for it.

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