Me: "Wait...the CAD server won't boot up?!" 👀
Police Dept. Customer: "Please tell me the off-server backups are good!"
How good planning turned a catastrophe into 30 minutes of downtime 👇
The fear was palpable when the server (hosting the city's entire police database) crashed and wouldn't come up.
All police calls, incidents, dispatches, arrests, warrants, crashes, etc. were down. The 911 center was crippled and resorted to paper tracking.
We knew this was bad, but thankfully I previously helped this customer implement multiple fail-safes for this exact scenario. 😌
We could have pulled and restored their off-server backups onto a new host to get them back online, but we had created an even better option...
This customer had not only implemented off-server database backups, but also a Standby (DR / Reporting) server. The Standby was receiving all prod transactions from the live CAD system. It was used for running custom reports we'd written, but also functioned as a standby to take over as the production database if ever needed. Now was the time to prove its worth!
I was able to quickly recover the database on the Standby server...bringing it online as the live production CAD database. It was alive again! 👏
After a few minor application configuration changes, the PD was back online with their CAD and 911 systems. The sighs of relief were deep and long.
Backups and Standby servers are your data's insurance policy. When you need them...you're so so happy you have them! 🎉
Check here for more stories and information: www.GForceData.com
