Upgrade, downgrade
This small government agency has its own "data center" with a motley collection of systems -- but no budget money for real data-center necessities, says a pilot fish working there.
"We had VAXen, Linux servers, Windows servers, a small RAID array and our own private Wi-Fi/broadband network because we needed access to files normally filtered by the main network," fish says.
"We did not have UPSes, and our environmental control was a pair of air conditioners in the windows.
"The agency decided to upgrade all the air conditioners due to age. They swapped out our analog-control units with new digital units that would hold specific temperatures. Well, they would hold until the power went out -- then they reset to 'off.'