Preparing Computer and Cellular Networks For a Hurricane 114
CWmike writes "As Hurricane Gustav approaches the US Gulf Coast, IT lessons learned from the devastating Hurricanes Katrina and Rita that smashed New Orleans and other areas in 2005 are on the minds of many worried IT managers. David Avgikos, president of Digimation Inc., a 3-D digital animation software company in St. Rose, Louisiana, said, 'We don't have to be told twice.' Meanwhile, the nation's major cellular network providers say that they too are prepared, having learned from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Still, they offer some helpful tips for dealing with what is expected to be a category-three hurricane when it hits: use text vs. calling on your cell phone, and if you use a cordless for your landline, ditch it for a corded model so that it will still work if there are power outages."
IT disaster preparedness lesson #1 (Score:3, Informative)
1. 3-M Blackwatch tape Fed Ex'd to some safe place north.
Other than that, unless your facility is 100ft underground, resistant to groundwater, and with lots of fuel for the generator, I don't think you can do much in the midst of a really big hurricane. Doesn't sound like this one is going to be the biggest of types though.
Avoid the mistake a hospital or two made in Katrin (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Ditch cordless? How about power backup? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Talking... (Score:3, Informative)
It was a bitch during Katrina, you could not contact anyone in the 504 area code.
I'd never really ever used text messaging prior to that...but, I started receiving them, then discovered what T9 was....and have been a fan of it ever since..
For a month at least, or more...texting was the only way you could get through on a cell phone from NOLA. I wonder why they can do text, but, not voice?
Don't trust your power (Score:1, Informative)
Ditch wireless? I used to make sure I could abandon the PBX if our building went dark.
I had spare 4-wires jacks and POTS telephones ready in the Computer Room and each of the senior managers offices. I also had a dozen loop and ground start CO lines down ready on our buildings POP. The phones were directly wired to the local CO dialtone.
We only used the system twice. The first time was when a 14.4KV transformer down the road exploded and killed our power. The second time was when we intentionally shut down power to install a redundant feed into our building.
You lose your building if you lose communication. It's better to stay in your office and work with a flashlight than have to run around looking for a working pay phone.
Re:Talking... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:I use a more sophisticated strategy... (Score:5, Informative)
Not really, I mean, the city is older that the United States of America...not like anyone in recent history chose where to put it.
And...not any more a problem than Amsterdam is...
Not to mention, it is here for a reason...MAJOR port for the US, for all the goods being shipped out of the middle of the US down the MS river..access to the Gulf for all that oil being drilled for, and imported in...gotta have all the fishermen supplying the US with a large part of its fresh seafood...etc.
Nah, while NOLA is a bit dangerouse (wouldn't be as bad if the wetlands could get restored), it is where it is for many important reasons.
Most everywhere in the US is in danger from all kinds of natural disasters. Heck, even NYC has a nighmare hurricane scenario...and they're WAY overdue.
Re:power not really the whole problem (Score:1, Informative)
Having been through over 20 hurricanes, having been hit TWICE by the same hurricane after traveling up north and being in the telecom field i can tell u the most important things. A BATTERY OPERATED FAN! An LED flashlight with batteries. A Florescent lantern with a charger for the car. An inverter for the car so u can charge things including ur laptop. And lots of movies. It helps to freeze a bunch of 2 liter bottles and leave them in the freezer or move them to a cooler. They keep things cool and when they melt u get ice water. Romin noddles are ok for survival. HAve about 200-300 ft of extension cord (a neighbor always has a generator) if you are good get ur own SMALL honda generator. It is big enough to power a microwave and even alternate between items and the frig to keep it cool. The great thing is when not under load it will burn less then 1/2 gal an hour. Why is this important? Ask my neighbor with the huge 5.5gal/hr generator. He rant out after running it for 4 hrs a day, 2 days in a row.
Water, gas, batteries, fan, laptop power... noodles and oh yea chocolate is nice...
Re:Ditch cordless? How about power backup? (Score:3, Informative)
Beyond that, I'd say always have a simple brainless corded phone in the house. Wireless is nice, and battery backup is good if the power's only out for a couple of days -- but if things are bad for a while, or your phone battery just HAPPENS to be almost fully discharged the day the disaster hits (because of a 4 hour support call), it's nice to know that you have something that's guaranteed to work for as long as the telephone system is intact.
I've had days that I've been on the phone so much that I've gone through both the main and the backup battery for my cordless phone. Until then my 'always have a corded phone' rule was considered a 'just in case' rule. It wasn't even a disaster, but I'm glad that I had the rule.
I mean, it's not like a dumb phone is gonna cost you more than a couple of lattes at the local coffee shop.
Datacenter Blog from Hurican Katrina (Score:4, Informative)
The blogger Interdictor, Michael Barnett, has a detailed blog of what they had to do and deal with to keep their datacenter operational despite being located in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. His blog was a very good read during the hurricane and its aftermath as it happened in August/September 2005.
Blog: http://interdictor.livejournal.com/?skip=300 [livejournal.com] Start reading from this link and go forward through the posts.
Pictures: http://sigmund.biz/kat/ [sigmund.biz]
DJDevon3 (Score:2, Informative)
Re:I use a more sophisticated strategy... (Score:1, Informative)
There is a slight difference. In the Netherlands people and government take the threat of floods seriously and do things to be ready if and when one happens.
Hurricanes are enormously powerful weather events. Nothing else comes close. The floods & storms you get in the Netherlands or the North Sea do not compare.
That being said, while I'm sure government incompetence and mismanagement can be found around the world, it rarely reaches the level found in New Orleans & Louisiana.
Hurricanes are not new in New Orleans, they occur now and then, and will continue to occur in the future. Like all cities that regularly get hurricanes, New Orleans had a hurricane plan. Did they follow their plan? NOOOOOOOOOO! That is the prime reason so many people died.
Amongst other things, the New Orleans plan called for the use of city buses to evacuate people (before the storm) who did not have the resources or intelligence to leave. Did this happen? No. There is a famous picture of the New Orleans city bus parking lot where hundreds upon hundreds of buses are sitting in five feet of water. Maybe they should have followed their plan and used them instead.
Like all states on the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana had a hurricane plan. Did they follow their plan? NOOOOOOOOOO! Primary response is usually carried out by the Louisiana National Guard (a state militia). Like good soldiers, they followed their orders. What orders did they receive from their commander, the governor of Louisiana? NONE! It was several days after the storm before the governor issued any orders at all to the Louisiana National Guard.
In the US, primary response in the event of a hurricane falls to city government, then the state government, then the federal government.
Lastly, the response of the federal government was also very slow.
I suspect the reason that wasn't widely publicized is that both the mayor of New Orleans and the governor of Louisiana were democrats, and many wanted to use the hurricane as an opportunity to bash Bush.