Had a client's server room flood from a burst pipe in the ceiling last Thursday, and the backup power unit shorted out before the auto-shutdown could kick in.

We had to pull the main drives from three rack units, dry them with a data recovery kit, and cross our fingers for about six hours before we knew if the client's quarterly reports were safe.

3 comments

3 Comments

hunt.nora1mo ago

Yeah, it's like your safety net just decides to trip you on the way down. Makes you wonder how often those backup systems get checked before something goes wrong.

theac631mo ago

Remember hearing about a friend's office where the sprinklers went off? Their backup power had a monthly check on the schedule, but it turned out the tech was just signing the form without actually testing the battery. When a real leak happened, the whole unit just died, no warning. They lost a whole day of work because the safe thing wasn't safe at all. Makes you trust those checklists a lot less.

the_eric1mo ago

The backup power unit shorting out is the worst part, that's supposed to be your last line of defense. I can't believe it failed before the auto-shutdown even got a chance to work, that's just brutal luck.