As I drove the robot, I almost turned gray and filled with blood server

Part 1 Box h4> I remember, were the last days of November. Already thinking about the end of the day, I planned a night when suddenly I was told that in the glorious Siberian city N our customer broken tape library. Spare immediately sent to the transport company, but after 3 days, it was still on the way. The transport company and grunted vaguely explained to the phone, and the customer is not a joke became nervous. The forecasts are uncertain, so we decided to take one more spare his forces on the plane. Warehouse staff handed me a box of an overall weight of ten kilograms, pasted barcodes and stickers, and joyfully clapped me on the shoulder and said, "Just do not try to take the luggage - pomnut."

Box I certainly worried, but no less concern to me inspired bag with powdered milk, which is the last time I gave the project manager. "They've got some troubles with jelly now ... because of bad weather or something ... local boys asked them to bring 2 kg. You're not hard? "- He said. The expression on his face and a characteristic gesture palm, as if concealing my mouth, it was clear he would now like to, I was compliant or even dumb.

Important deviation h4> This story happened a few years ago, when I was in the engineer, when I flew a lot around the country, and waking up in another hotel, sometimes could not figure out what I'm in town. 4-5 trips per month affects the way of life. And the personification of this way of life was always ready for my next trip backpack.

Part 2: The Librarian h4> I got out of the taxi, and suddenly from the terminal building, I was stopped by the police. "Your papers!" - He spat, and a sense of profound satisfaction somehow spilled over his face. There was a wicked chilly wind, making it difficult to deal with my pockets and bags. I, as I could have drawn their documents and handed Overseer of the rule of law. The idea is that a young man who travels only with a laptop, a big box and a package of white powder, should not cause any suspicions, so I painted on his face sincere bewilderment. "What have you got in the box?" - He asked indifferently. It seems that the package was nothing like milk powder, he has already identified its professional flair, and so the package was not interested in it anymore. But the box is defied his insight. "This is a robot" - I said.

In that moment I had the feeling that his indifferent face have changed, because it is lit from within a genuine interest as if in the depths of his cap with a badge optional module is connected with the function of human curiosity. I knew that fails to answer, and it was necessary to somehow rectify the situation soon. "It's a robot ... for libraries", - he said I have less confidence, continuing to watch the rest of the connecting modules malice, malice and greed. "Say, robot libraries ... robot librarian or something?»

Part 3. Inspection h4> I moved to the landing zone, remembering how just finished with a badge. "Has done - I thought - and could have a flight late».

"Baggage tape, jackets, belts and shoes removed, phones spread ..." - and imperiously commanded callous woman in uniform. Hoisted his belongings on the tape, I do not squeak sound and passed through a metal detector. It has been seen that the box with the robot is haunted by airport security employee who chased it back and forth through the X-ray. "What is it?" - She said at last, when all comparative images in her head exhausted. I squeezed in the hands of a package with milk, thinking about their tactics, is not to repeat the episode with a badge. But suddenly her colleague sitting with her in the neighborhood, a quick glance at the monitor and said: "Yes, it's a robot library L200. This week is the third time driven, damage the season they went. Come on, young man. " To my amazement there was no limit, but at the same time I was scared I thank providence favors, as well as technical competence citizens working at airports.

Part 4 Manor h4> Rusty "Volga" creaking rushed me from the airport to the hotel. From thirty dubious taxi drivers, welcoming night flight in front of the local airport, it seemed to me the most conservative. Throughout his hunched and smoky appearance felt some decency and even nobility. However, the appearance of a taxi driver is often misleading, and the whole way he wondered why I live in Moscow, but did not know how things have Alla Pugacheva. "You live with her in the same town, and you do not know ?!" - did not let my cab driver. He did not like my ignorance, but at the same time did not want to lose face in front of the capital's guest. By the door of the hotel, we drove up smartly and with a squeal of brakes, completing a steep pirouette, impermissible for avtomotoagregata with such a venerable age. The door of the machine seemed to burst open itself, or simply fall off. Hearing my question: "Do you give me a check?" The taxi driver waved his arms and had forgotten conversational skills.

I walked into the building, looking around at the tasteless decorated walls and pillars, all with some gray patina, like dust. The building was an old building, probably a former manor. At the reception the girl indifferently painted nails. Confident in her, as a customer, right, I strongly took his passport and slapped it on the counter. Madame reluctantly looked up from the nails, contemptuously looked at my passport and muttered: "The debt can not give." "What ...?" - In my head I flew interjections and other signs of extreme anger. "I booked a room here" - I tried to be polite. "It's a casino! The hotel entrance is on the other side of the yard. " Who knew that both places have the same name? And I could have imagined that all this time the taxi driver drove me, probably thinking that I flew from Moscow to the edge of the inhospitable winter dissipate the contents of the box for cards and roulette.

Part 5. sleep or not to sleep? h4> Hotel room greeted me with plush curtains to the floor and a musty smell of damp. I sat on the edge of the bed, located in a recessed wall, gently lowered to a treasured box with a robot and surprise greeted with a spider in the corner. Works at the customer were scheduled for 9 am, the clock was 6 local. In my head still buzzing engines IL-62 and other delights of hours of flight. I mentally figured prospects to sleep a few hours and wake up fresh and just made the right decision not to go to bed. Physiologically my business tending to a late dinner even kefirchik night, so I adjusted the box our firm green scotch and went into the shower.

Part 6. Simon h4> When to 9 am I arrived with a robot and milk powder to the customer, at the entrance I met a representative of the IT department, who said that his supposed name Simeon. Simon talked incessantly about everything around, and then wiping his mouth with his hand. In his mind the rustic manners, it was clear that the role of the department met him gets most often as the most skilled illiterate, but very sociable person. Without a doubt, Simon called the confidence of the people, and, as it later turned out, had a wonderful, almost irrepressible appetite.

On the floor of the fuss going on, and smelled of paint. Violently gesticulating, Simon explained that this new building and now are equipped with a second site. And then my cell phone rang. It was the project manager. "And you have got to the customer? Listen, help them there. We have set up a cluster of them right now. Our Lesch them for a week. Something does not work. You're not hard? »

Part 7: Cluster h4> Accompanied seeds I walked into the turbine building. Everywhere were scattered boxes of different sizes with inscriptions Dell, Cisco, EMC. Many of them have been opened around lay wires, rails for the installation of equipment in the rack, stacks of documents and electricians. Electricians not just lay it swarmed with wires under the raised floor, and quietly quarreling. At the heart of this creative chaos rose senior specialist of the Department Nicholas. He conducted the workshop. Hiding from the meeting, behind a pile of boxes languished our Alex, squinting at the monitor of your laptop and secretly eating breakfast bun. Simon also wanted a loaf of bread, but he had to participate in the meeting, so he just puffed.

From the first words of Nicholas I realized that the time for the launch complex was running, less than a day. With the advent of the second site has set the task to reorganize the management of one of the most important information systems. Database - the core of the information system - was to be clustered. Now it was stored in two storage systems, between which is synchronous data replication. A cluster software monitors the status of the complex and can automatically react to a failure, happen anything bad on the main floor. Preparatory work has been almost completed, but a lot of time was lost searching for and eliminating broken optic links between sites, which paves the contractor. And yet to complete the installation of the server, update them on the operating system and microcode and all test. The launch complex into operation was scheduled for the night - the only time you can stop the responsible financial system.

Part 8. From dawn to dusk h4> I do not remember how the day went. I only remember that my colleagues once said that the tape library in the light of the circumstances, wait, and now my hands are important in another case.

The whole day we mounted servers, twisted nuts, laid the cables, the adapter connects. During the breaks, we like even had dinner and went for a walk in the woods. Then I put the operating system is rolled patches conjured microcode. Sometimes microcode conjured me, and not to doze off, I remembered how a stewardess on the plane skillfully juggled tea, complaining about the turbulence and handing out tea boiling water who feared passengers. Night was coming from the window we could see that over the forest has risen a large orange moon.

Part 9 Hour X h4> «X hour has come" - cheerfully he said, yawning, Nicholas, conferred briefly with someone local phone calls. "It is, come," - he repeated from the tube, which he has not had time to put and giggled. They were "applied arts", who also were on duty that night and after our work had to make sure everything worked.
The clock arrows showing midnight. We come to the most crucial moment when they had to change the replication of data to another storage system, wait until synchronization is complete and raise the cluster at the second site. This process is fully in command of Alex, known in our circles specialist in storage systems. Some more was known about its habits ... It is irrational, smacking, copied to the script identifiers volumes, referring to the list that he gave the customer. Half an hour later, when the hard work was over, Alex touched the key to loyalty enter, and making sure that it is real, it clicked. All anxiously waiting for something, and universal silence broken only by the crackle of fluorescent lamps. I tended to under the raised floor, and in reality I had a dream, but I do not remember about what.

Part 10. Untitled h4> I woke up because the synchronization is over, but for some reason were not happy. Cluster service is not raised. I was called out of the country of dreams, so I looked in the logs. Through the fog in my mind before I was to realize that the problem was with the disk subsystem. Group logical volumes imported from error and data were not available. The reasons are not yet clear, but it starts to look like the prospect of rolling back to the old configuration, ie, Plan "B". At seven o'clock in the morning the system was supposed to be operational, so to think there was no time. Then I also could not imagine that the tragic events of that night were just beginning to unfold.

I meditated for another five minutes and offered to do a rollback to the old system. Reluctantly, my colleagues agreed dejected thinking that morning will report to his superiors. We switched the direction of replication and given command imports the disk group on the old server. I've managed to calm down and wanted to get to the hotel bed with a sense of duty. Suddenly I heard a cry: "And then it, too, will not start." And inside we all snapped ...

Part 11 Akella missed h4> The fog has finally dispelled in my mind. It is said that in extreme situations the human body is mobilized. I frantically thought what can be done. From the storage system was all right. Convinced of this, my colleague Alex waved by signing its impotence, and went to watch a movie on a laptop. I have already spoken about his irrational behavior. But formally complain to it was not for that.

The cause problems emerges quite clearly. The disk group before customers were added extra volume, but they forgot to add to the list of discs that are replicated. At the start of the cluster disk group is imported, but the metadata has been updated only to part of the disk and the new remained in the "read only." Now, the configuration of the disk group was completely mismatched, and the data available to any new storage, or the old.

When it comes to huge financial data company, their loss is equivalent to a catastrophe. I immediately remembered a similar story when early in his engineering career proved to be renovated one customer - a major structure, legalized in the 90th. They discussed their admin something inadvertently deleted. "And what happened to him?" - Among other things when I asked. "Well, he is sitting there in the basement, the third day already. We are waiting for the General, he will decide what to do with it "- quite seriously answered me, shaven-headed fellow with a heavy chain on the bull's neck.

Part 12 Hindi h4> Have you ever felt like the hair on the head move, intending to turn gray? Pretending that we have lost a database, I would not even think that it would be in the morning.

In situations such as ours, it should immediately call the tech support producer. It is, at this hour, it is understood the English. I roughly sketched for himself keywords and dialed. Two beeps and told me the English baritone. I immediately told who we are and what we have happened. Baritone patiently listened to my monologue and asked: «What is first name?». I was taken aback, but assembled, with the thoughts, he said. This was followed by questions about the last name, customer name, city, location, serial number, and so on to infinity. Time inevitably runs away. Finished questioning, baritone voice asked me to record the number of treatment and wait for the call said the expert. Specialist I did not call it 5 minutes later I wrote an e-mail. He wrote that he took a job in my application, but his shift was over, so I have to once again call the dispatcher and ask for a bid for another specialist. It is not clear why some people think that do not like to work in Russia. I think this is misleading.

And then a miracle happened. I called back another specialist, but he was from India. Second Global Support Center was there and they took my application. I was glad to see him like a brother dad, but my joy was short-lived: we did not understand each other. It was clear that he kind of says in English, but it's easier this was not. Sometimes, some of the sound of his voice makes me a distant idea what he meant. But ultimately our relationship has been reduced to correspondence. I strained my memory, remembering all the best moments from the Indian film and trying to give it to feel the depth of our grief. As time went. India, as expected, sang and wept, but to help us, too, could not.

Part 13. At dawn penalty h4> At 4 o'clock in the morning we realized that the other options no choice but to recover from a backup. All eyes were fixed on the tape library. Nicholas even crawled to her, wiping the floor tie. "What will be the base with a ribbon unwound?" - I asked the local bakapschika. "For three hours, probably - he said hesitantly, - but we have never tested." We urgently need to be replaced in the library of the robot, because three hours, we have been a stretch. I have never so quickly open the package and do not screw the screws. With the robot, covered in blood, it was over, he stood up on the seat. Blood filled his I, injuring a finger because of the rush, but the dressing was not. Shelknul switch library and shined the light inside, the robot was moved and started calibration.