TPU Disaster Planning & Recovery

[W1zzard]

- Hacker attack, admin and other high-level user passwords stolen
- Hacker attack, user database and passwords comprimised.
... and other variations.

not possible to detect if done properly. but we do need a plan for when it is detected

 

[DrPepper]

not possible to detect if done properly. but we do need a plan for when it is detected

If you detect a hacker then get kriej to assassinate them.

 

[Mussels]

not possible to detect if done properly. but we do need a plan for when it is detected

segmented backups should be pretty easy. just have the userbase in an offline backup, and its easy enough. email, password - restore it and regain access to all accounts, and then clean up any rubbish posts when done.

 

[newtekie1]

no they won't let small animals without security badge into the datacentre

The University I went to had gophers chew through the fiber lines running into the datacenter.

So I guess, Internet Connections go down at datacenter could be added to the list.

 

[Urlyin]

The company that houses the servers is denied a government bailout... goes bankrupt!

TPU is sitting on the curb

 

[alexp999]

There is more than one company for server/backup tho right....?

I'm suprised there isnt an EU server anyhow, what with W1zz being from Germany.

Would it be any quicker for us in EU if there was an EU server?

EDIT:

What about all the servers you get to pick from all over the world when you download stuff?

 

[W1zzard]

The University I went to had gophers chew through the fiber lines running into the datacenter.

So I guess, Internet Connections go down at datacenter could be added to the list.

you cant compare universities to multi million dollar hosting operations. my personal opinion and experience is that everybody who isnt able to compete in the business world starts working at universities

Would it be any quicker for us in EU if there was an EU server?
What about all the servers you get to pick from all over the world when you download stuff?

it would be a bit quicker but with much more difficulties to get it setup right and more cost, probably not worth it
download servers are completely independant from our content servers, they are on low cost, low quality, high traffic hosts. i do plan to use some storage on these as off-site off-continent backup storage

 

[Polaris573]

Would it be any quicker for us in EU if there was an EU server?
What about all the servers you get to pick from all over the world when you download stuff?

There is actually very good infrastructure between Europe and the U.S. I think I heard somewhere that it if the direct connections between the U.S. and Asia went down traffic could be routed across the Atlantic with little performance loss.

 

[alexp999]

Arent there massive cables going across the atlantic?

I know for a fact there is a morse code line

 

[Polaris573]

I know for a fact there is a morse code line

Don't make fun, that could come in handy after the apocalypse.

Hey wizzard, I see softlayer has locations in Seattle and Washington D.C. Have you ever thought of just purchasing the cheapest server they have in one of those locations for backup? Those locations are so geographically separate from Dallas that if anything happened simultaneously at those locations you would have more to worry about than if techpowerup was up or not.

 

[btarunr]

Urlyin resets W1zzard's passwords.

but seriously, W1zzard needs (or already has?) a #2 person who knows every password that keeps TPU running.

 

[Polaris573]

but seriously, W1zzard needs (or already has?) a #2 person who knows every password that keeps TPU running.

I thought that was Urlyin, but to be honest I don't know much of what goes on past my level of access. I may have to sit down with you on MSN one day W1zzard and ask some questions about what goes on in the background, just for the sake of knowing.

 

[DonInKansas]

What if the server pays for hookers and gets herpes?

 

[Polaris573]

What if the server pays for hookers and gets herpes?

It may catch it from an innocent affair with the server owned by the pimp in the next rack.

 

[Mussels]

I thought that was Urlyin, but to be honest I don't know much of what goes on past my level of access. I may have to sit down with you on MSN one day W1zzard and ask some questions about what goes on in the background, just for the sake of knowing.

sometimes wizzard reveals interesting secrets in MSN. like how he hates MSN, and uses some 3rd party doodad so he cant see i used this avatar in MSN as well.
and He's really a she.

 

[Urlyin]

Urlyin resets W1zzard's passwords.

but seriously, W1zzard needs (or already has?) a #2 person who knows every password that keeps TPU running.

Nope .. I'm just used to funnel monnies

 

[mlee49]

9. Softlayer Dallas Datacenter destroyed (where TPU DB and WWW servers are)

Shouldn't there be a fail safe on Softlayer's end? I would think they are a large enough company to have a back up plan.

The only problem I foresee with TPU's longevity is not who it is hosted by or threats on the outside but with keeping the growth of this site. I'm not sure what direction TPU is headed, only Wiz can truly answer that question but I would love to see TPU become a complete package for reviews, latest hardware, gaming, and useful discussion.
I liked to see TPU do more with gamepowerup and the latest addition generalnonsense.net and grow all these places.

Of course TPU hosting more and more content will eventually cost more $ so is that a possible area of concern? I guess most things come down to brass tax when you really think about it.

 

[Mussels]

Shouldn't there be a fail safe on Softlayer's end? I would think they are a large enough company to have a back up plan.

The only problem I foresee with TPU's longevity is not who it is hosted by or threats on the outside but with keeping the growth of this site. I'm not sure what direction TPU is headed, only Wiz can truly answer that question but I would love to see TPU become a complete package for reviews, latest hardware, gaming, and useful discussion.
I liked to see TPU do more with gamepowerup and the latest addition generalnonsense.net and grow all these places.

Of course TPU hosting more and more content will eventually cost more $ so is that a possible area of concern? I guess most things come down to brass tax when you really think about it.

click more ads on the front page. The referrals should help keep things running.

 

[btarunr]

It may catch it from an innocent affair with the server owned by the pimp in the next rack.

What did the pimpcentral server tell the TPU server?

"nice rack!"

 

[W1zzard]

Shouldn't there be a fail safe on Softlayer's end? I would think they are a large enough company to have a back up plan.

The only problem I foresee with TPU's longevity is not who it is hosted by or threats on the outside but with keeping the growth of this site. I'm not sure what direction TPU is headed, only Wiz can truly answer that question but I would love to see TPU become a complete package for reviews, latest hardware, gaming, and useful discussion.
I liked to see TPU do more with gamepowerup and the latest addition generalnonsense.net and grow all these places.

Of course TPU hosting more and more content will eventually cost more $ so is that a possible area of concern? I guess most things come down to brass tax when you really think about it.

- what kind of backup plan do you have against a plane crashing into your building?
- we are looking for organic growth - quality + growth in that order
- gaming will be at gamepowerup when i ever find the time to get it ready for launch
- hosting cost etc. is not a concern, at least not until we grow x20+ and then we'd have more money anyway

Nope .. I'm just used to funnel monnies

not in recent times, paypal finally added bank transfers into paypal from our bank and they also figured out how not to lose my bank transfer money (happened before)

sometimes wizzard reveals interesting secrets in MSN. like how he hates MSN

i dont hate the msn protocol, i just cant stand the msn messenger and all the pretty graphics eating away at my memory

Hey wizzard, I see softlayer has locations in Seattle and Washington D.C. Have you ever thought of just purchasing the cheapest server they have in one of those locations for backup?

that might be part of the new backup plan. i still need to check how/if i can reroute ips to another server in another softlayer datacenter. not much point in having a second server at another datacenter if i cant direct traffic to it.
also need to check what happens with dns etc.

 

[crazy pyro]

W1zz, I think you're the first person I've come across who agrees that the Microsoft (or whatever offensive variation you want to use) is awful.

 

[W1zzard]

microsoft as a company is doing a great job right now considering the big picture. windows is exceptionally stable now. w7 seems to be on the right track compared to vista. even vista is not that bad (i'm sticking with xp). my messenger of choice is miranda, i am sure msn wouldnt be such a big success if it looked like miranda

 

[Drizzt5]

and He's really a she.

 

[Steevo]

Nuclear winter, and only coathangers bent in different shaps to get the internet back going wirelessly.



Other than that, your provider should be able to load balance the servers.




Try a admin level wget of the site to download locally. Then worst case scenerio you could send a drive with the backup image on it to the datacenter, and or a set of DVD's or the like.




How big is TPU in data? 60GB? If you can access the server at hardware level you could check the disk status, most datacenters are using firewalls, and if you can only sign into the site through the datacenter portal, then you could request access logs sent by e-mail or PM in real time, and if someone tries or manages to break in you would know right away.



With ours at work I can tell who is signed in through the global VPN, and or every connection to every machine in and out, filter and search connections in the logs.

 

[W1zzard]

and or every connection to every machine in and out