Lessons learned from infrastructure failures

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	FIELD NOTES Lessons learned from infrastructure failures
	By Tracey Capen Here’s how to keep your computers connected to the Internet, come power outages or ISP disconnections. Also: Another nail in the privacy coffin, trouble for Kindle authors, and some clarification on Win10 upgrading.

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The full text of this column is posted at WindowsSecrets.com/field-notes/lessons-learned-from-infrastructure-failures/ (opens in a new window/tab).

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Our store is on the Oregon coast. Most people do not come to the coast in the winter, just the storm watchers which should tell you something. We frequently experience storms with hurricane force winds and it is common to have one or two storms that gust over 100MPH each winter. All power lines around the area are buried, but the main lines from the dams on the Columbia pass through steep mountains and forest and are always getting knocked down during these storms.

Needless to say, power outages are frequent and sometimes long. We also get a great many brown-outs and spikes. An outage is inconvenient and can cost a few sales; brownouts and spikes kill equipment. Our equipment used to die like flies. But now every computer, every monitor, every receipt printer or label printer, and every piece of network equipment – even $20 switches – are all on UPSes. They are a bit of a hassle – every now and then you have to replace batteries and sometimes the UPSes themselves die. But they protect us against hardware failures.

And we have one Point of Sale workstation with a couple of really large UPSes where I have balanced the loads so that we can run for four hours with no AC power at all. Our Internet connection is DSL on a business phone line which has always continued to work during power failures. (Cross your fingers for us!) If you rely on your computer and network connection, you really should put all equipment on a UPS, even the modems and routers if you use them. (And no, I don’t sell UPSes!)

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Hey Tracey,

I just read your note about Comcast setting up public hotspots on our home setups and went to check our settings. I may be wrong but I think because I bought my own modem / router they can’t control that aspect of the setup. I got a message saying

“You will not be able to manage your XFINITY WiFi Home Hotspot features at this time because you do not have an eligible Wireless Gateway in your home.”

This is just one more good reason not to be paying them the monthly fee for renting their equipment.

DNev

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One question about the ‘free’ release of Windows 10. What happens if you have to rebuild your PC – where will you get your copy from?

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You create a W10 DVD for recovery, just as you would have done with W7 or 8.

A regular image backup is much better than rebuilding because you keep all your apps and settings.

cheers, Paul

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