Throughout our SMB Minute episodes you have heard Tim and me talk about disaster recovery, mitigation, preparedness, and other such terms. Not only are the terms applicable in the technology sector, but they also pertain to other aspects of life. Take, for example, my ill-fated bike ride this weekend. Now, I’ll preface this with nobody got hurt (other than my pride) and it almost resulted in a long walk home.
This past weekend was the warmest in months so I took advantage of it and dusted off the road bike. Tires pumped, extra tube, CO2, water, cell phone… check. Not 5 miles in I hit some glass. Nothing like hearing a “phhhsssssss” from the back tire. Yep. Flatter than a pancake. Great time to test my disaster recovery plan! Pulled off the wheel, removed the tire, removed the tube, checked for objects in the tire, loaded a new tube, reseated the tire on the wheel, attached CO2, and tire is filled! Awesome! Plan was successful. Well, not quite. As with all disaster recovery, check and double check your work. On inspection of my lightening fast (ok, painfully slow) tire change I noticed the glass not only punctured my tire but also sliced it open. The tube was puffed out through the break. If I had tried to ride it, it may have lasted anywhere from a few feet to a few miles. But I wasn’t about to take that chance. If it were to blow again I may not be as fortunate and get hurt or cause a wreck. Disaster Recovery Plan B: Call to the wife and I’ve got air conditioned shuttle service.
Now, you’re thinking great (or awful) story, but what does that have to do with my business and disaster recovery? Think of the cut tire as a machine that has gone down. Now, on my ride I assume I will get a flat so I carry a spare tube or two and a way to change and inflate it. In the small/medium business world we expect systems to fail so we make (and test) backup systems. My comfort level for my system down time may be a few hours or a few days. My comfort level for a pleasure ride is such that I’ll carry a spare tube, but I’m not going to attempt to carry, or have available, a spare wheel or tire. If this were a bike race or a critical system which needs absolute (or close to) uptime then my plan would be different.
Take Away
Know your risk. Know your limits. Have a plan. Then learn from the experience. Would I have done anything different? No, probably not. Though if I couldn’t have reached my wife for a ride I would have had to move further into my plan. Lucky for me the bike shop 4 blocks away was open. A 4 block walk sure beats a 5 mile one.
Posted under Misc
This post was written by Aaron on February 9, 2009
