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I've experienced a HPE 3PAR failure, but HP insisted we can't call it "data loss"(or make a claim as such), since the data wasn't lost/damaged. Instead it simpl

I've experienced a HPE 3PAR failure, but HP insisted we can't call it "data loss"(or make a claim as such), since the data wasn't lost/damaged. Instead it simply stopped exporting our LUNS, and the management interface became unreachable. Ie..."your data isn't lost, you just can't get to it!" would paraphrase their response to us. Ended up returning to a large keepalived+iscsi+softraid linux storage cluster. edit: typo

dekhn 10y ago
Availability and durability are two distinct things. HPE maintains staff that can recover the data through extreme measures, so they were technically correct.
- lb1lf 10y ago
  ...'recover data through extreme measures' reminded me of this little nugget from the comic strip User Friendly: http://www.userfriendly.org/cartoons/archives/97nov/uf17a199.gif http://www.userfriendly.org/cartoons/archives/97nov/uf17a199... Sometime, somewhere, someone's had to resort to this recovery method, I am sure.
  - dekhn 10y ago
    When I worked at $BIGCORP we had filers from $FILER_COMPANY. $FOUNDER of $FILER_COMPANY lived in hawaii, and if the filer was bad enough, you pulled the plug, mailed the drives to hawaii, and eventually would get a tape back with the data. The founder knew the file layout and could recover the data by manually walking the metadata.
  - mikestew 10y ago
    Sometime, somewhere, someone's had to resort to this recovery method, I am sure. Right before they went out of business. Years ago (like 15-20) I heard a stat about companies that suffered a catastrophic data loss (lost the drives, no usable backup). I don't recall the exact number, but something like 75% of them were out of business within 12 months.
    - lb1lf 10y ago
      Yeah, think I saw the same statistic - and I believe it. Tangentially related anecdote - years ago, the smallish company I worked for had one - ONE - person booking our travels. Seeing as we were basically living out of toolbags at the time, trying to cash in as much as we could on a boom in a market in which we enjoyed a near monopoly, the office was often manned by the travel booker, our IT guy and an accountant. All good, until the IT guy figures he can use his script-fu to automate configuration of new computers. He made some mistake in the line having the computer decide whether it was due for a reinstall or not, leading EVERY computer checking in on the intranet to proceed with formatting its /usr partition. So - travel booker arrives at work, boots computer, loses data. And, as a consequence, has no idea where anyone are anymore, much less any idea when she ought to get us back home or onto the next job. Anyone checking in via VPN found their laptop bricked in seconds. She claims it was the most surreal experience of her life, getting concerned phone calls from all over the world from field grunts asking what had happened - oh, and could they please be allowed to go home? I was one of the lucky ones; I was on Guam with an agreeable climate, sitting on a crate of beer (parting gift from the vessel I'd just disembarked) and in no hurry to get home. A colleague who was stuck in Nuuk was somewhat less impressed. By no means a catastrophic data loss, but still...

dekhn 10y ago

Availability and durability are two distinct things. HPE maintains staff that can recover the data through extreme measures, so they were technically correct.

lb1lf 10y ago
...'recover data through extreme measures' reminded me of this little nugget from the comic strip User Friendly: http://www.userfriendly.org/cartoons/archives/97nov/uf17a199.gif http://www.userfriendly.org/cartoons/archives/97nov/uf17a199... Sometime, somewhere, someone's had to resort to this recovery method, I am sure.
- dekhn 10y ago
  When I worked at $BIGCORP we had filers from $FILER_COMPANY. $FOUNDER of $FILER_COMPANY lived in hawaii, and if the filer was bad enough, you pulled the plug, mailed the drives to hawaii, and eventually would get a tape back with the data. The founder knew the file layout and could recover the data by manually walking the metadata.
- mikestew 10y ago
  Sometime, somewhere, someone's had to resort to this recovery method, I am sure. Right before they went out of business. Years ago (like 15-20) I heard a stat about companies that suffered a catastrophic data loss (lost the drives, no usable backup). I don't recall the exact number, but something like 75% of them were out of business within 12 months.
  - lb1lf 10y ago
    Yeah, think I saw the same statistic - and I believe it. Tangentially related anecdote - years ago, the smallish company I worked for had one - ONE - person booking our travels. Seeing as we were basically living out of toolbags at the time, trying to cash in as much as we could on a boom in a market in which we enjoyed a near monopoly, the office was often manned by the travel booker, our IT guy and an accountant. All good, until the IT guy figures he can use his script-fu to automate configuration of new computers. He made some mistake in the line having the computer decide whether it was due for a reinstall or not, leading EVERY computer checking in on the intranet to proceed with formatting its /usr partition. So - travel booker arrives at work, boots computer, loses data. And, as a consequence, has no idea where anyone are anymore, much less any idea when she ought to get us back home or onto the next job. Anyone checking in via VPN found their laptop bricked in seconds. She claims it was the most surreal experience of her life, getting concerned phone calls from all over the world from field grunts asking what had happened - oh, and could they please be allowed to go home? I was one of the lucky ones; I was on Guam with an agreeable climate, sitting on a crate of beer (parting gift from the vessel I'd just disembarked) and in no hurry to get home. A colleague who was stuck in Nuuk was somewhat less impressed. By no means a catastrophic data loss, but still...