Blinding Glimpse of the Obvious

[Isaac]

Actually when I started this thread I was far more focused. I can tell many tales of time gone by but I looking at the logic of what do you do when you have no system? Even if your have secure ack-ups of your data and apps, who knows where and how to find them and how do we work without the IT system?

And, of course, back-up and recovery systems are no good whatsoever if you haven't proved and tested them regularly !

Several times I have needed to use a backup and realize that the backup file wasn't even workable. Very sad day

Have toyed with several methods of backing up an access back end but thankfully got rid of access back ends at some point and didn't have to worry about that in the future.
I always try to remind people that generally speaking if you work for a company with a network backing up stuff on the network is sysadmins responsibility ...all you have to do is know that there's a backup plan and have an idea of how to avail yourself of it should you need to restore an earlier version. Same thing with SQL server. If you're in a big corporate environment there are other people responsible for backing that up and they'll know how to restore it. Hopefully.

One of the best things for a file server is when you right click on the folder and then go to the previous versions tab and it's actually populated. Then you know you have an easy way to restore a previous versions of files including access backends.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

One of the toughest lessons for an "average" system admin to learn (and tough for the department boss, too!) is that if you have an active SQL back-end, it probably cannot be active during backup operations. ORACLE, for example, originally didn't have this feature, but after (about) v5 of ORACLE Enterprise Server they had a "Backup Mode" such that if you put the DB into that mode, the normal updates would finish and a "transaction log" mode would kick in. You do your backup and it will be good for all transactions BEFORE the time at which you actually entered backup mode. In order to do this for Access BEs, the trick I used was to wait until the .LACCDB or .LDB file was deleted by the last user exiting from the app. Then I immediately MOVED the BE file to a holding area to do my work directly on the BE file. Since the linked files were at that time not in the folder named in the connection string, nobody could touch them and nothing in the FE cared. It would just bomb out and tell you that it couldn't find the BE file. The key is that databases do random middle-of-the-file operations, but backups are essentially whole-file snapshots. If a part of the file is moving, the snapshot is blurred. Think of family reunion pictures made when there are little kids at the reunion.

That's why all systems HAVE to have a time set aside for crucial off-line work. For the Navy computers, we picked a time matching the western Pacific Ocean time zones to do our offline work.

 

[Isaac]

One of the toughest lessons for an "average" system admin to learn (and tough for the department boss, too!) is that if you have an active SQL back-end, it probably cannot be active during backup operations. ORACLE, for example, originally didn't have this feature, but after (about) v5 of ORACLE Enterprise Server they had a "Backup Mode" such that if you put the DB into that mode, the normal updates would finish and a "transaction log" mode would kick in. You do your backup and it will be good for all transactions BEFORE the time at which you actually entered backup mode. In order to do this for Access BEs, the trick I used was to wait until the .LACCDB or .LDB file was deleted by the last user exiting from the app. Then I immediately MOVED the BE file to a holding area to do my work directly on the BE file. Since the linked files were at that time not in the folder named in the connection string, nobody could touch them and nothing in the FE cared. It would just bomb out and tell you that it couldn't find the BE file. The key is that databases do random middle-of-the-file operations, but backups are essentially whole-file snapshots. If a part of the file is moving, the snapshot is blurred. Think of family reunion pictures made when there are little kids at the reunion.

That's why all systems HAVE to have a time set aside for crucial off-line work. For the Navy computers, we picked a time matching the western Pacific Ocean time zones to do our offline work.

We take constant backups of our active SQL database.. but it also involves replication

 

[BlueSpruce]

One of the toughest lessons for an "average" system admin to learn (and tough for the department boss, too!) is that if you have an active SQL back-end, it probably cannot be active during backup operations. ORACLE, for example, originally didn't have this feature, but after (about) v5 of ORACLE Enterprise Server they had a "Backup Mode" such that if you put the DB into that mode, the normal updates would finish and a "transaction log" mode would kick in. You do your backup and it will be good for all transactions BEFORE the time at which you actually entered backup mode. In order to do this for Access BEs, the trick I used was to wait until the .LACCDB or .LDB file was deleted by the last user exiting from the app. Then I immediately MOVED the BE file to a holding area to do my work directly on the BE file. Since the linked files were at that time not in the folder named in the connection string, nobody could touch them and nothing in the FE cared. It would just bomb out and tell you that it couldn't find the BE file. The key is that databases do random middle-of-the-file operations, but backups are essentially whole-file snapshots. If a part of the file is moving, the snapshot is blurred. Think of family reunion pictures made when there are little kids at the reunion.

That's why all systems HAVE to have a time set aside for crucial off-line work. For the Navy computers, we picked a time matching the western Pacific Ocean time zones to do our offline work.

One important reason we isolate db server data in a VM is that it's a lot easier to backup and restore the data. Many db servers, including SQL Server, have the ability for doing "hot backups" while production is live. Transaction Logging also provides the ability to rollback the db to a consistent state in the event of an outage and quickly restart production. Many high volume OLTP systems are duplexed fault tolerant systems.

 

[BlueSpruce]

Some improvements, and we did fairly well after Hurricane Ida a few years ago. Still ugly - but we did better. (For us personally? New roof.)

I can anticipate FEMA not providing anymore financial aid, and insurance companies not covering damage in high risk areas. They would probably suggest moving to a safer place that doesn't have a history of repeated calamities.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I can anticipate FEMA not providing anymore financial aid, and insurance companies not covering damage in high risk areas. They would probably suggest moving to a safer place that doesn't have a history of repeated calamities.

Obviously you've been subscribing to our newspapers.

 

[BlueSpruce]

Obviously you've been subscribing to our newspapers.

No, my common sense tells me FEMA and insurance has already laid out lots of money, government is aggresively cutting costs, and their solution is for people to move elsewhere.

 

[Isaac]

I can anticipate FEMA not providing anymore financial aid, and insurance companies not covering damage in high risk areas. They would probably suggest moving to a safer place that doesn't have a history of repeated calamities.

as much sympathy as I have for anyone involved in a calamity, I DO really, really question these people who live on the side of a big river, keep building in the paths of hurricanes, and frankly anybody who decides to live in hurricane path. It's not a pejorative viewpoint, more just struggling to understand it. I've thought of a lot of places we might move over the next few years, but crossed off a lot too due to that .... It's just high on my priority list "a place without too many natural disasters", and these places that are like #1, I question how they're so popular to live in. I think people just assume modern technology/engineering will save them but......that's unfortunately not always the case. Mother Nature is one, powerful, mother-

You can't totally avoid everything, but some places are just so popular and they get blown away every 2 years like clockwork. I don't really blame Allstate, Progressive, etc for pulling out. And unfortunately the % of places that are high risk seem to be growing. I suppose maybe I was privileged to grow up in Wisconsin, one place where not much of anything ever happens, other than a lot of cold weather. I even crossed Reno off my list after learning exactly what it was to earthquake predictions. I'm quite interested in St Petersburg and Clearwater FL, but.........not too sure about that.

 

[BlueSpruce]

as much sympathy as I have for anyone involved in a calamity, I DO really, really question these people who live on the side of a big river, keep building in the paths of hurricanes, and frankly anybody who decides to live in hurricane path. It's not a pejorative viewpoint, more just struggling to understand it. I've thought of a lot of places we might move over the next few years, but crossed off a lot too due to that .... It's just high on my priority list "a place without too many natural disasters", and these places that are like #1, I question how they're so popular to live in. I think people just assume modern technology/engineering will save them but......that's unfortunately not always the case. Mother Nature is one, powerful, mother-

You can't totally avoid everything, but some places are just so popular and they get blown away every 2 years like clockwork. I don't really blame Allstate, Progressive, etc for pulling out. And unfortunately the % of places that are high risk seem to be growing. I suppose maybe I was privileged to grow up in Wisconsin, one place where not much of anything ever happens, other than a lot of cold weather. I even crossed Reno off my list after learning exactly what it was to earthquake predictions. I'm quite interested in St Petersburg and Clearwater FL, but.........not too sure about that.

Google AI says New England and the upper midwest are environmentally the safest places to live in the US. But then you have to deal with the cold bitter winters. Crime and cost of living are also factors. I wouldn't live in an area that's prone to flooding, tornadoes, and earthquakes. Hot and cold weather you can manage. Hurricanes you have enough advance warning to prepare and escape. Some people just don't have the means or courage to move. Some feel its a roll of the dice, others just hate the thought of moving, period.

 

[BlueSpruce]

I'm quite interested in St Petersburg and Clearwater FL, but.........not too sure about

The Tampa Bay area is generally a good place to live in. We've been lucky for the past 10 years or so avoiding direct hurricane hits. We're known as being the lightning capital of the U.S. and Summers are steamy hot, but you can easily protect yourself from those elements. Overall, I have enjoyed living here on and off for the last 45 years. I always return to this area.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

I DO really, really question these people who live on the side of a big river, keep building in the paths of hurricanes, and frankly anybody who decides to live in hurricane path.

Odd you should mention that. From the time I was about 3 years old until the time I was 39, I lived 1/2 block from the Mississippi River levee in "Old Jefferson" (unincorporated suburb west of New Orleans). Not EXACTLY the side of a river, but pretty close. Never had an issue with the river during that time, though we did have a couple hurricanes. "In a hurricane path" makes it sound like you think hurricanes are predictable. Despite what the weather guessers often tell us, there is ALWAYS a pretty wide cone of uncertainty that comes along with their prognostication. We don't have as many down here, but farther inland you have "tornado alley" that is more selective in terms of destruction - but also more likely to leave behind NOTHING that had been in its path.

Maybe it's just my Deep South hind end that doesn't like the cold, but to me a hip-deep snowdrift is just another disaster that has found a cozy corner to sit in.

 

[ColinEssex]

When we see news reports of some hurricane or tornado in the USA, there is always one glaring thing. Most of the destroyed houses are built of wood. If Americans are daft enough to live in tornado alley - wouldn't brick built properties be a better bet?
Col

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Col, that's a fair question. The problem usually isn't the wooden or brick siding but having a wooden frame that flexes in high enough winds. There IS such a thing as a steel-frame house with brick veneer. They last longer. You can also build a house with concrete walls and steel frame. Those things are like fortresses but they are a beast if you want to add on a room. But on the good side, their R-value (insulation) is EXTREMELY high so the heating and cooling costs are less. They are immune to termites. I looked into building one a long time ago, but then Mom got ill and my life plans changed drastically for several years.

Specific to my general area (south Louisiana): We have a few steel-frame homes to the north of New Orleans, across Lake Ponchartrain. One reason we don't have more steel-frame homes is cost. Another is weight, because south of the lake, we are building on really ancient wetlands that suffer from soil erosion and subsidence. The soft wetland soil here is so deep that the foundations become prohibitively expensive. I recall reading that to reach bedrock here, you might have to drive pilings 1500 feet deep. We heard about that when the Louisiana Superdome (stadium) was being built and folks questioned why it would be so expensive. (Answer: A really expensive foundation.)

 

[BlueSpruce]

I've never heard of the UK experiencing any hurricanes, tornadoes, or earthquakes. However, the UK has a serious pollution problem.

 

[CJ_London]

UK get all three, but rarely as destructive as in the US. Last destructive hurricane was earlier this year. I experienced an earthquake a few years back

 

[BlueSpruce]

UK get all three, but rarely as destructive as in the US. Last destructive hurricane was earlier this year. I experienced an earthquake a few years back

Hurricanes are by nature tropical events, where the ocean waters are warmer. The UK is geographically in the Northern latitudes where the water is cold year round. There have been hurricane remnants, like ex-Ophelia, that impacted UK, but no full blown hurricanes have ever organized and strengthened in that part of the world. I've never head of any significant tornadoes, nor earthquakes hitting the UK as it's not anywhere near a terra fault line or active volcano.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

UK get all three, but rarely as destructive as in the US. Last destructive hurricane was earlier this year. I experienced an earthquake a few years back

We actually experienced an earthquake in the 3.5 range a couple of years ago. The National Geological Survey measured the tremors and used it as a way to analyze our soil. Their conclusion: Must be jelly 'cause jam don't shake like that.

 

[BlueSpruce]

We actually experienced an earthquake in the 3.5 range a couple of years ago. The National Geological Survey measured the tremors and used it as a way to analyze our soil. Their conclusion: Must be jelly 'cause jam don't shake like that.

So is it a fair prediction to say within the next 50 years N.O. could be totally underwater?

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Depends on how well they balance the budget in the next few years. It might sink under its own weight. But I'm thinking "no" on that based on the "bust" that climate change has been in its predictions.

 

[BlueSpruce]

I would be saddened if N.O. turns into a bayou. I've visited several times and enjoyed its people, food, music, and party atmosphere.