5 Aug
2006
5 Aug
'06
4:45 p.m.
Chuck Guzis wrote:
On 8/5/2006 at 3:14 PM Don Y wrote:
So no incoming pings, connection attempts, etc.? Gee, I
see them all the time even on this dialup line.
But they all require maintenance. :> I can
live without
that level of connectivity for the time/effort it saves me!
(If I need to move files in/out I FTP them to/from the
laptop and let the laptop deal with actually getting them
in/out).
I must be be uncommonly lucky, then. I've not done a thing to my server
for several years, except change the mail relay address when I changed
hosting services. (It was just a name change--a quick edit). If I hear
the BBC on the radio when I wake up in the morning, I know that
everything's working. We don't get many power failures here (the
substation is just about 1/2 mi
down the road), but when we do, they're doozies lasting a day or more.
I've got a big old Elgar UPS that the server's hung off of, with 4
deep-cycle marine batteries. It'll run the server for a few hours until I
bestir myself and fire up the generator, which I need to do anyway if I
want to use water (well) and eat food (refrigerator).
When I last lived in Chicagoland, outages were fairly regular.
I wonder if the apparent reliability here has more to do with
the age of the infrastructure (no doubt 10 or 20 years newer,
here) *or* the technologies used (e.g. we have below grade
services here whereas chicagoland they were all on poles).
The latter sure cuts down on outages caused by drunks slamming
into telephone poles! :>
OTOH, I don't know what sort of backup the telco
"temple" has that's
located on the southwest corner of my property. They've got a power line
drop there, but I don't know if they've got backup. Supposedly, the setup
has something like a 10,000 POTS pair capacity (that's what a lineman told
me), so one would hope for some sort of second power source for the DSL
connections.
The CO runs off battery (though not for long :> ).
The ones i have seen usually have a small jet turbine
sitting in a shed out back that provides backup power.
For a real trip, have a look at the room (usually below
grade) where all the pairs come *in* to the office.
And imagine what it would be like if that room was
ever flooded, engulfed in fire, etc. Suddenly SLIC96's
have lots of appeal! :>
This room usually connects to another room (upstairs?)
where all the pairs are flared out for easy access.
The folks who work in that room get paid unreasonably
well (given the UNcomplexity of their job duties!)
but you know it has to drive them CRAZY in short order!