brendan@cs.widener.edu (Brendan Kehoe) (06/03/91)
This past weekend (month's end) made a question pop into my mind; we
do different things to pass the time while we're doing our all-encompassing
disk-swabbing backups, like play basketball, read, or whatever. This
weekend we did one of those 1000-piece jigsaw puzzles.
What do other people do to pass the time? (Vital, administrative question.)
Brendan
--
Brendan Kehoe - Widener Sun Network Manager - brendan@cs.widener.edu
Widener University in Chester, PA A Bloody Sun-Dec War Zone
"For a healthy environment, today and tomorrow . . .
this is a biodegradable plastic message."poulson@cs.widener.edu (Joshua Poulson) (06/03/91)
In article <WG0+Y5=@cs.widener.edu> brendan@cs.widener.edu (Brendan Kehoe) writes: > This past weekend (month's end) made a question pop into my mind; we >do different things to pass the time while we're doing our all-encompassing >disk-swabbing backups, like play basketball, read, or whatever. This >weekend we did one of those 1000-piece jigsaw puzzles. > > What do other people do to pass the time? (Vital, administrative question.) > Well... we look out the window across the green grass and watch you guys play basketball, read, or whatever. This weekend we saw you do one of those 1000-piece jigsaw puzzles. It's great that you have a window in your machine room. > Brendan Kehoe - Widener Sun Network Manager - brendan@cs.widener.edu > Widener University in Chester, PA A Bloody Sun-Dec War Zone Joshua -- Joshua R. Poulson [Joshua.R.Poulson@cyber.Widener.EDU] "I speak only for myself, okay?" [poulson@cs.Widener.EDU] "It is better to play the game and lose than it is to argue about the instructions." (Me, 1991)
verber@pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu (Mark Verber) (06/03/91)
What do I do when backups are running? I sleep. Like most people these days I do backups onto a Exebyte tape drive which requires no operator intervention. cron starts a process around 3am that determines what needs to be backup on my network, and then blasts it to the tape server. Through careful planning I can still fit each nights save-sets onto a single tape. I should have a stacker before I grow beyond a single tape, so I will be able to continue to sleep through my backups. Full saves are done pretty much the same way except that the backup script reboots the machine, and /etc/rc has been changed to look for /do_backups, If this file exists it is exec early in the boot cycle (after I config my network, before anything that touches the diskis started). When I backup is finished, the back continues in the process of coming live again. Mark Verber / Ohio State Physics / Computing Services The most difficult issues in building large networks today are level 8 & 9 of the protocol stack: politics and religion. RMS: a religious evanglist who doesn't care if you are converted or not.
jmason2@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (Jamie Mason) (06/03/91)
In article <WG0+Y5=@cs.widener.edu> brendan@cs.widener.edu (Brendan Kehoe) writes: > This past weekend (month's end) made a question pop into my mind; we >do different things to pass the time while we're doing our all-encompassing >disk-swabbing backups, like play basketball, read, or whatever. This >weekend we did one of those 1000-piece jigsaw puzzles. That's not just an admin question. We *users* have to find something to do when our favourite Unix box is down, doing its level 0 dumps. I engage in a new form of self-torture when my favourite Unix box is down: I log into the IBM mainframe and endure CMS. :-) Jamie ... Segmentation fault (core dumped) Written On Monday, June 3, 1991 at 08:25:23am EDT
kreed@telesys.cts.com (Kevin W. Reed) (06/04/91)
brendan@cs.widener.edu (Brendan Kehoe) writes: > This past weekend (month's end) made a question pop into my mind; we >do different things to pass the time while we're doing our all-encompassing >disk-swabbing backups, like play basketball, read, or whatever. This >weekend we did one of those 1000-piece jigsaw puzzles. > What do other people do to pass the time? (Vital, administrative question.) Backup time is when I clean my office area up. Otherwise, I'd be buried. You can tell if I forget to backup too... -- Kevin W. Reed TeleSys Development Systems San Diego, CA USA {nosc,ucsd}!crash!telesys!kreed kreed@telesys.cts.com TeleSys-II BBS & Development System Primary Number +1 619 483 3890
sblair@upurbmw.dell.com (Steve Blair) (06/04/91)
In article <WG0+Y5=@cs.widener.edu>, brendan@cs.widener.edu (Brendan Kehoe) writes: |> What do other people do to pass the time? (Vital, administrative question.) |> |> Brendan What; like reading users email, cancelling other folks' articles, deleting all them thar core fils & emacs turds(.BAK, .CKP) THE ABOVE IS 100% HUMOR, although I knew a person who got fired for doing *just like above* when doing monthly backups when I worked somewhere else.. -- Steve Blair DELL UNIX DIVISION sblair@upurbmw.dell.com ================================================================ *Notice: "/earth is 98% full, please delete anyone you can...." -anonymous @dell.com
gs26@prism.gatech.EDU (Glenn R. Stone) (06/04/91)
In <WG0+Y5=@cs.widener.edu> brendan@cs.widener.edu (Brendan Kehoe) writes: > This past weekend (month's end) made a question pop into my mind; we >do different things to pass the time while we're doing our all-encompassing >disk-swabbing backups, like play basketball, read, or whatever. > What do other people do to pass the time? (Vital, administrative question.) Sleep. Thank goodness for 8mm tape drives and gnu tar.... Backups kick in at 0500 whilst I get in the last forty winks or so of sleep for the night.... and, no, my tape drives are mode 700, for various security reasons, so nobody can scribble on my dump tape before I get there. It even unloads itself so I don't get the bright idea of doing so myself from root. I simply edit the config file every afternoon, run an "at" command, and go do whatever.... so, yeah, the answer is "sleep". -- Glenn Stone gs26@prism.gatech.edu
herb@ajfcal.uucp (Herb Peyerl) (06/04/91)
kreed@telesys.cts.com (Kevin W. Reed) writes: >brendan@cs.widener.edu (Brendan Kehoe) writes: >>disk-swabbing backups, like play basketball, read, or whatever. This >>weekend we did one of those 1000-piece jigsaw puzzles. >Backup time is when I clean my office area up. Otherwise, I'd be buried. >You can tell if I forget to backup too... I usually go home and sleep... I guess that's why Exabyte drives are so useful. -- -------------------------------------------------------------------------- UUCP: herb@ajfcal.UUCP || #define Janitor Administrator I brew, therefore I am.. || Apollo System_Janitor, Novatel Communications "I spilled spot remover on my dog and now he's gone..." <Steven Wright>
herrj@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Jonathan R. Herr) (06/05/91)
In article <1991Jun3.181814.8963@telesys.cts.com> kreed@telesys.cts.com (Kevin W. Reed) writes: [ ... ] >> What do other people do to pass the time? (Vital, administrative question.) > >Backup time is when I clean my office area up. Otherwise, I'd be buried. >You can tell if I forget to backup too... Geez, I feel deprived after reading all these great suggestions. The system I run is currently backed-up to a 9 track tape machine. No matter what, I'm busy during the backup, too, usually trying to figure out why the terminal at the front of the complex doesn't want to work that day. One day, I'll convince the company's president that it would be more than worthwhile to buy a real tape backup drive. Meanwhile, I'll sweat it out with the mag tapes. 8-) -- Jonathan R. Herr | herrj@valnet.uucp | I know to trip herrj@silver.ucs.indiana.edu| uunet!iuvax!valnet!herrj | is just to fall. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
tar@math.ksu.edu (Tim Ramsey) (06/05/91)
Hmm. I still use 150M tapes, so I can't get more than 30 minutes worth of sleep before I have to change tapes. But that's OK, I have 2 servers. When I do level 0 backups, I take one down to single user mode, start an xterm up on the other, do backups from the second one on 2 tape drives at once, and then switch when the first set of backups are done. That way I keep 2 tape drives busy and still get to read news. Come to think of it, I read news when I do daily (level 6) and weekly (3) backups. I guess I'm addicted. -- Tim Ramsey/system administrator/tar@math.ksu.edu/(913) 532-6750/2-7004 (FAX) Department of Mathematics, Kansas State University, Manhattan KS 66506-2602 "Yes, you can take an axe to the 3084..." -- bav@ksuvm.ksu.edu, realizing the futility of CP/CMS
rodney@tyrell.stgt.sub.org (Rodney Volz) (06/07/91)
>In <WG0+Y5=@cs.widener.edu> brendan@cs.widener.edu (Brendan Kehoe) writes: >> This past weekend (month's end) made a question pop into my mind; we >>do different things to pass the time while we're doing our all-encompassing >>disk-swabbing backups, like play basketball, read, or whatever. > >> What do other people do to pass the time? (Vital, administrative question.) We don't need backups, do we? :-) Seriously: getting something eatable between floppy changes :-(. -Rodney -- Rodney Volz - 7000 Stuttgart 1 - FRG ============> ...uunet!mcsun!unido!gtc!aragon!tyrell!rodney <============= rodney@tyrell.gtc.de * rodney@delos.stgt.sub.org * rodney@mcshh.hanse.de \_____________ May your children and mine live in peace. ______________/
barb@library.calpoly.edu (Barbara Nash) (06/08/91)
brendan@cs.widener.edu (Brendan Kehoe) elucidates: > What do other people do to pass the time? (Vital, administrative question.) [during backups] > > Brendan rn, email, homework (I'm a student admin), try to keep warm in a freezing operators room (they ac it to the same temp as the machine room)... I get most of my studying done inbetween tape changes. Also, my co-admin and I spend a lot of time suring backups working on projects and problems for the system. (fixing sendmail.cf, tracking users' "bug reports", etc...) -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ barb@library.calpoly.edu | Disclaimer: *I* thought it, *I* said it, bnash@polyslo.calpoly.edu | *I* meant it. These are not the library's bnash@nike.calpoly.edu | opinions, rather, they are mine.
acsiv@menudo.uh.edu (Duck @ U of Houston) (06/10/91)
In article <WG0+Y5=@cs.widener.edu> brendan@cs.widener.edu (Brendan Kehoe) writes: > What do other people do to pass the time? (Vital, administrative question.) > >Brendan Well, rn, email, games...read...socialize :-) Don -- Donald M. Harper (713) 749-6283 University of Houston Academic User Services, User Services Specialist II Cannata Research Computing Center, Operator Internet : DHarper@uh.edu | Bitnet : DHarper@UHOU | THEnet : UHOU::DHARPER
robinson@cogsci.Berkeley.EDU (Michael Robinson) (06/10/91)
>In article <WG0+Y5=@cs.widener.edu> brendan@cs.widener.edu (Brendan Kehoe) writes: > What do other people do to pass the time? (Vital, administrative question.) Sleep. At home. In bed. Three cheers for Exabyte. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Michael Robinson USENET: ucbvax!cogsci!robinson ARPA: robinson@cogsci.berkeley.edu
angr@imspy2.im.se (Anders Grund) (06/11/91)
I am usually sleeping. We have two Exabyte's, so we are running our backup scripts through cron. The script also sets the Exabyte's off line, after the read check of the tapes ore done. So nobody can mess upp our backups (Well if you have acess to the machine room...or......) Then in the morning i just check the mail from that script to verify, that it went okey. The only boring thing is to backup /, but it doesn't take that long time either. So then i stand in the machine room for 20 minutes or so looking stupid. Anders -- Anders Grund Email: angr@imdpy1.im.se Industri-Matematik Data AB Phone: +46 8 676 50 00 Kungsgatan 8 Fax: +46 8 676 51 51 S-111 43 Stockholm, Sweden
mcmahan@cs.unca.edu (Scott McMahan) (06/20/91)
In article <1991Jun9.192416.993@menudo.uh.edu> acsiv@menudo.uh.edu (Duck @ U of Houston) writes: >In article <WG0+Y5=@cs.widener.edu> brendan@cs.widener.edu (Brendan Kehoe) writes: >> What do other people do to pass the time? (Vital, administrative question.) >> >>Brendan > >Well, rn, email, games...read...socialize :-) > >Don > > Depending on how many computers are in the room, and on which computer you're backing up the files (or on tapes) -- Play games! *chess* *othello* *tetris* *etc* :-) :-) They'll occupy your mind and keep you busy .... (If all computers are in use, there are always the hand held games!) :-) Scott McMahan " It's not a bug, it's a *feature* !!!"