Networker

Re: [Networker] Holiday Shutdown?

2006-12-12 07:42:46
Subject: Re: [Networker] Holiday Shutdown?
From: Stan Horwitz <stan AT TEMPLE DOT EDU>
To: NETWORKER AT LISTSERV.TEMPLE DOT EDU
Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2006 07:28:08 -0500
On Dec 12, 2006, at 5:45 AM, Nancy Magers wrote:

Hi Networker Listserv,

My datacenter is requesting that we stop backups over the holiday break to facilitate minimal staffing. They don't want to have to be responsible for checking logs, making sure there are tapes available and logging calls on priority backup incidents. Has anyone ever had this sort of request
before?

I obviously have many concerns with this request and I'm interested in
hearing feedback from the list on this.

This depends on each site's situation. For the first time in about six years ago, we here at Temple University will have the week off between Christmas and New Years as a holiday bonus and most of the University will shut down.

I am the one who checks the logs and does everything else concerning my data center's backups. I plan to continue doing backups as normal during the holiday break even though we will run unattended. My employer has invested a huge amount of money to do lights out backups, so this really isn't an issue here. I do not handle our mainframe backups and the contractor who does will be on site doing that and shipping off tapes for off-site storage as normal over the holiday, but most University employees including me will be home that week. If I did have to go in to send tapes off site, I would simply arrange comp time, which is what our campus policy and our hospital's employees are doing.

Checking backup logs can wait. If a backup breaks, fixing it will wait, which is more than what would happen if no backups at all where done. Making sure tapes are available during the holiday period is not an issue for my site because our backups are done to two large tape libraries. Last week, I made sure that we have enough writable tapes in both tape libraries to take me into at least the middle of next month after I return from vacation. If I have time, I will open up my NetWorker console remotely to see how things are going, but unless there is a major problem, I will not take any action involving our backups until January 3rd when I return to work. The same will happen when I am away on vacation the following week. I live only about 20 minutes from my office, so if I do have to pop in for something unexpected, such as remove a stuck tape, its not a big deal.

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