Problem Solved
I love ingenuity. When I see it in action, I'm reminded of how many people in this world run circles around me with their practical intelligence. Something I saw yesterday is a case in point. A bit offbeat and over-the-top maybe, but that's why it was a Kodak moment.
At work yesterday, I realized I left something in my car that I desperately needed: a $1 bill (so that I could buy a can of Red Bull). Heading toward the door, I couldn't help but notice a long orange extension cord leading outside. This was my first warning that something unusual was taking place.
It gets better. So keep reading.
The orange extension cord led outside to a rack-mount server computer server removed from its usual home in a raised-floor computer room. Correction: a really, really expensive server. One that costs a lot of money. The server was plugged in and running on the sidewalk outside my office. Standing over it was our company's chief Uber-geek, with a hose in hand. I'm all for baptism and purification ceremonies, but when you start pouring water on a server computer that just so happens to be operating at the time, bad things can only result. Really bad things. But that was the aim of this exercise: to bring bad things to the fore. Trust me - it was not a pretty sight.
Now, if you're like me, you're probably wondering why a brilliant, highly-trained Uber-geek would pour water onto a computer that had 110 volts AC coursing through it. When I stopped laughing at the sight of this to ask our resident mad scientist why he was launching an electronic simulation of what may soon happen to all of the residences of one Saddam Hussein, the answer I got made me laugh even more.
"Here's my problem," he explained. "Something is wrong with this server. We have a service contract that costs us a lot of money. But the computer company won't honor the problem we've been having with the server - they want something catastrophic to happen before they'll come out to fix it."
By now, he had my attention.
"So, I figured I had to create a small catastrophe," he continued. "So, take one server, place it on the ground, plug it in, and introduce a stream of cold water on it. Problem solved."
Strange and wonderful all at once. I live for moments like this.
I love ingenuity. When I see it in action, I'm reminded of how many people in this world run circles around me with their practical intelligence. Something I saw yesterday is a case in point. A bit offbeat and over-the-top maybe, but that's why it was a Kodak moment.
At work yesterday, I realized I left something in my car that I desperately needed: a $1 bill (so that I could buy a can of Red Bull). Heading toward the door, I couldn't help but notice a long orange extension cord leading outside. This was my first warning that something unusual was taking place.
It gets better. So keep reading.
The orange extension cord led outside to a rack-mount server computer server removed from its usual home in a raised-floor computer room. Correction: a really, really expensive server. One that costs a lot of money. The server was plugged in and running on the sidewalk outside my office. Standing over it was our company's chief Uber-geek, with a hose in hand. I'm all for baptism and purification ceremonies, but when you start pouring water on a server computer that just so happens to be operating at the time, bad things can only result. Really bad things. But that was the aim of this exercise: to bring bad things to the fore. Trust me - it was not a pretty sight.
Now, if you're like me, you're probably wondering why a brilliant, highly-trained Uber-geek would pour water onto a computer that had 110 volts AC coursing through it. When I stopped laughing at the sight of this to ask our resident mad scientist why he was launching an electronic simulation of what may soon happen to all of the residences of one Saddam Hussein, the answer I got made me laugh even more.
"Here's my problem," he explained. "Something is wrong with this server. We have a service contract that costs us a lot of money. But the computer company won't honor the problem we've been having with the server - they want something catastrophic to happen before they'll come out to fix it."
By now, he had my attention.
"So, I figured I had to create a small catastrophe," he continued. "So, take one server, place it on the ground, plug it in, and introduce a stream of cold water on it. Problem solved."
Strange and wonderful all at once. I live for moments like this.
posted by Brian at
7:19 PM
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