Linda posted on February 12, 2009 16:37
I am one of those 'lucky' people who gets email sent to their cell phone. Since we monitor our clients' servers for problems, I check my mail every night just before I head to bed and it is the first thing I check every morning - even before my coffee!
This morning, my email was filled with messages about client sites unavailable and power outages in our own office. I was initially puzzled. Although it has been raining, we didn't have thunderstorms, and I knew the rain had stopped before I went to bed. Yes, there was a prediction of possible freezing rain and some snow, but it wasn't predicted to be significant and a quick check of my thermometer revealed that it wasn't even below freezing.
Then I heard the wind and remembered that gusts had been predicted up to 50 miles per hour. Apparently, all of this wind has created havoc with the local power grid. According to the news, several areas around town are without power.
Fortunately, our power outages were short. My emails told me that as I had messages telling me that the power was out and then back on almost back to back. Some of our clients are not so fortunate and are dealing with no power this morning.
If you are in one of the areas affected, I hope you have a UPS system that is properly configured to shut your servers down safely. If not, you should consult with your technology provider immediately so that you do not risk damage to your server from unexpected power outages.