There are these things called lightning protectors that you can buy for your phone and data lines. They're a couple of bucks and they prevent not only lightning but power surges from any source from traveling down the wires. If you have a leased circuit you might ask your provider about installing them. Wires act as antennas so they're a common point of entry for electrical surges--even before the surge gets to your UPS.
Bill Jahsman Park City Consulting ----- Original Message ---- From: Jason Bondy <jbo...@okhistory.org> To: Museum Computer Network Listserv <mcn-l at mcn.edu> Sent: Thu, March 11, 2010 11:06:53 AM Subject: Re: [MCN-L] Technology Disaster Melissa, I'm sorry to hear of all that trouble, but I thank you for sharing your story. A lot of times we take the technology for granted and don't realize we need to be proactive to make sure it is always available. Although in your case, with a lightning strike that close, even with better backup/surge solutions you may have still had some damage. Thanks again for the reminder. Jason _______________________________________________________ Jason Bondy Exhibit AV/IT Systems Oklahoma History Center 2401 N. Laird Ave. Oklahoma City, OK 73105 405-522-0783 - Office 405-522-5402 - Fax www.okhistory.org -----Original Message----- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:mcn-l-boun...@mcn.edu] On Behalf Of Melissa Johnson Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 6:21 PM To: mcn-l at mcn.edu Subject: [MCN-L] Technology Disaster Hello MCN Listserv, I'm not sure what I am hoping to gain by posting this message other than sympathy. Well, and maybe, to share our own technology disaster experience. This is somewhat long but entertaining. Or, at least, shocking. Disclaimer: I am one of the many accidental techies in the museum world. So, please excuse any improper use of the words: router, switch, shared drive, UPS, network drive, phone computer, network cable, etc. On January 19, 2010 there was a pretty big thunderstorm in Silicon Valley, which does get very much lightning. In the early afternoon there was a bright flash of light and a big clap of thunder, not surprisingly the power went out. After power was restored, we discovered that History Park had been struck by lighting and suffered a massive power surge. It took us a few days to discover the full extent of the damage. We found that the UPS connected to our server was not only dead but had scorch marks on the back. Our hope was that the UPS had done it's job and protected the server. No luck. The server wouldn't start up. (And, to make the lesson even more valuable, I was going to order a new, real backup system that afternoon.) We kept our fingers crossed that the data would be okay. After about a week our part-time IT contractor was able to gain access to the hard drive and the data was fine. Now, we just had to wait for the new server to arrive. Next we checked the UPS that is connected to our telephone computer/firewall/switch set up. The UPS had survived but did not do it' s job. Phone computer dead. When our vendor came out to fix it, he was very surprised that the UPS hadn't prevented the power surge. The firewall was fried but we had an extra (don't ask) and the switch was dead. Luckily, it was still under warranty. Over the next few days we got the phones and network back up and running for most of the staff. History San Jos? has two sites that are across the street from each other and connected with a T1 connection. After we got the network back up the second site (where my office is) still did not have access to phones or internet. We didn't realize that the power surge had traveled down the network cable to the other side of the building and fried a router which connects the phones and network to the second site. No vendor would claim knowledge of the routers and I could not find an invoice for them. I finally remembered that the routers were credited (aka given) to us as an incentive to upgrade our service. We didn't know the passwords to these routers and the vendor who installed them has since closed. The password to the routers was eventually cracked and connection was restored. The staff at the second site was without communication for 30 days. Lessons Learned: --Have a real backup system and procedures. --Good relationship with vendors so they will come to your rescue. --Beware of vendors bearing free equipment. --Google Apps saved our sanity. I hope this was informative, or at least, entertaining. In addition to our technology problems, the lightning strike also took out 3 elevators, 1 light tower, and 1 refractor (?) that runs our trolley. As of today, we have our new server and backup system installed, working phones, and access to email and the internet. It's nice to be back in the 21st century! -- Melissa ------------------------- Melissa Johnson Curator of Interactive Media history|san jos? 408.521.5021 _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l The MCN-L archives can be found at: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/ _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l The MCN-L archives can be found at: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/pipermail/mcn-l/
