Incompetent vendors

[cdybedahl]

There is a problem with one of the backup systems. It'll work passably after everything server-related in it (one master server and four media servers) are reboot, and then degenerates into unusability over the course of a few days. For the past few weeks, I've tried to figure out why in what time I've had in between meetings and more urgent disasters. And now it seems we're closing in on some actual faults. Which can be summed up as that the people who delivered the whole thing are clueless fucks. The entire setup is totally messed up. And not on a particularly complex level, either. For example, it probably would've been a good idea if they'd made sure that the tape device drivers on the media servers had actually supported the tapedrives. Or that the master server and the media servers agreed on which tapedrive is which. "Oy, Media Server 2," says the master server, "there's a tape for you in tapedrive 3!". "Ok," says media server 2, "I'll use it as soon as I see it." And then it waits forever, because what it thinks is tapedrive 3 is actually what the master server thinks is tapedrive 2 so the tape isn't in the drive it's waiting on...

And that's just the start. Argh...

Comments

Just back from Moronia

[nordgren.livejournal.com]

That's bad. You're away from the lusers, you shouldn't have to deal with fallout from clueless fuckage. *contemplates booze after not being away from the lusers*

Re: Just back from Moronia

[cdybedahl.livejournal.com]

On the upside, it's now looking like the clueless fucks will get to pay to have someone competent rebuild the system. And we've got one of their larger vendors leaning on them, so I don't think they dare argue.

Re: Just back from Moronia

[nordgren.livejournal.com]

It's going to take a lot of schadenfreude to turn the whole affair into a good thing, but every bit of vendor-side misery helps. On the constructive side, working systems help, too.