Re: Not Using the server

[Rebecca Merck <Rebecca -dot- Merck -at- ONESOFT -dot- COM>]

I understand 100% on the data recovery issues.  I lost a few files early
on in my career, too.  But unless Beth is the data recovery specialist,
when she WOULD have the authority to insist, I'd think, it's still not
clear why BETH feels so strongly about the safety of the tech writer's
information.

My response wasn't intended to say that folks shouldn't have a
well-thought-out plan for how they store their files, where they save
them, and to ensure that they are backed up.  I *was* trying to suggest
a path she might take to explain WHY its important to the tech writers
who aren't working according to their procedures, in a compelling way
that would make sense to the tech writers.

Coffee in the PC air vents?  Were there cup shards in there, too?  I'm
visualizing someone hurling a coffee cup at the pc...  I suppose
stranger things have happened...

-Rebecca

> ----------
> From:         Comeau, Lisa[SMTP:Lisa -dot- Comeau -at- MOH -dot- GOV -dot- ON -dot- CA]
> Reply To:     Comeau, Lisa
> Sent:         Wednesday, March 31, 1999 11:27 AM
> To:   TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
> Subject:      Not Using the server
>
> Several people have made comments on the original post from Beth
> asking
> things like:
>
> "is there a functional reason why Beth is affected because they aren't
> held
> on the server?"
>
> "Does it interfere with or pose a threat to the ability of you or
> other
> people to do work?"
>
> Now, it may well be that this is just a pet peeve of Beth's, but, as a
> former Network Administrator, and trainer, I have to say that ANY TIME
> a
> "user" or "client" saves work to their hard drive as opposed to the
> server,
> it DOES affect the way other people work, if they're on the same team.
>
> A perfect example is a situation a friend ran into in a previous
> incarnation
> as a data recovery specialist. A team of four people were working on a
> manual which was due for release in 2 weeks. Three used both their
> hard
> drives and the server for storage-so they had backups. One used only
> her
> hard drive, stating that "it takes too long to copy something to the
> server". (Please note that said server was lightning fast).
>
> Two days before the manual was to be released, the fourth team member
> had a
> terrible system crash. (She spilled coffee INTO her PC air vents -
> don't ask
> how - 2 years later, we still don't know...) Needless to say, data was
> unrecoverable. (Okay, so my friend got about 3 pages of her section of
> the
> manual, but the actual file was about 85Mb in size.)
>
> So now, all 4 members of the team had to scramble to recreate her lost
> data,
> and get the manual out on time. (Which they didn't, of course...)
>
> Any time you work with a team that exchanges information, you ALL must
> be
> well-versed in how to responsibly share data. It's just common sense.
> How
> hard is it to make copies of your data to a shared drive? Start the
> copy at
> the end of the day, as you're putting your desk in order, and getting
> ready
> to go home. Then it's not interrupting, or keeping you from catching
> the bus
> on time.
>
> Also, as an aside, (and I'd NEVER accuse any of YOU of doing this) ;-)
> many
> people when saving to their hard drive, allow the computer to decide
> what
> destination the file will have. This often results in panic because
> the file
> is "not where I saved it". Saving to a network drive often makes the
> user
> have to 'think' about where the file is going, and makes the life of
> your
> support staff much easier. (I once did a support call because a user
> "lost
> all the files" she'd worked on all day - they'd been saved into the
> default
> directory, which happened to be C:\Windows\Temp, and she deleted
> everything
> in the Temp directory to save space...).
>
>
> My 2 million cents worth...
>
> Lisa Comeau
> Government of Ontario
> Ontario, Canada
>
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