Things That Go Bump in the Server Closet

Halloween is a time to conjure up things that give people the creeps. Scary sounds are just one way to send shivers up the spine. Sounds like, howling werewolves, zombie groans, chainsaws, and bloodcurdling screams are enough to make you want to run and hide. Yet, there’s one sound that’s the most terrifying of them all, and it’s coming from your server room!

What noise is that? Do you hear it? Lean in and cup your hands over your ears and you’ll hear it... faintly at first. “Click. Click. Click.” It’s an odd noise, so you decide to go in and investigate it further.

You enter the server room and flip on the light, only to have the bulb instantly go out. It’s dead. Now you’re in a dark closet that’s illuminated only by the light coming from the power-on buttons on the front of your server units. And you’re alone. Or at least you hope so.

Your eyes slowly adjust and you make your way to the back of the closet, using your ears and the clicking noise as your guide. The sound becomes increasingly louder with each step... CRASH, BOOM!, RAWWR! You jump back, nearly knocking over a server rack.

“What was that!” you scream. It doesn’t take long to realize that you accidently stepped on Mr. Buttons, the office cat. He was napping next to a server unit, and now he’s limping around and meowing loudly.

As you apologize to Mr. Buttons and shoo him away, you realize that, in doing so, he trotted across your path--a very bad omen. You take a big gulp and then continue on toward the clicking noise, taking baby steps.

The clicking noise gets louder with each step, and that’s when you hear it--a new noise that’s worse than the first. “Griiiiiiiiind!” It’s a noise you’ve heard before. Your heart sinks because you know exactly what it is and how much money it’s going to cost you.

Yep, you just witnessed a hard drive crash, and now your gut is experiencing a deep, sinking feeling.

You stare at the disabled server unit in disbelief. It’s now making zero noise. All the while the little light on the front of the unit flashes red, eerily illuminating the dark room.

And that’s when it hits you, the scariest thing that could happen to you on Halloween, you realize that your data isn’t backed up, which means that all of your important files could potentially be gone forever! “Noooooooo!”

Please, scary stories like this keep us up at night. We hope that you protect your business’s data with a managed, properly tested backup solution. Preferred’s BDR solution backs up data up to every 15 minutes and stores it securely offsite in a (not-so) haunted cloud. Want to learn more? Give us a call at 708-781-7110.

Have a safe and happy Halloween from Preferred.