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Y2K: To Do Or Not To Do
by James Taschek, Sm@rt Reseller, Dec 22, 99
Tick, tock, tick, tock ... the much anticipated Y2K is just about at our doorstep. Your customers are depending
on you to prevent chaos caused by the Y2K bug. Your eyes glaze over from indulgence in doughnuts and coffee. The
last Bavarian cream beckons you ... you eat it, but it doesn't help. The pit in your stomach remains--you feel
helpless.
You've conducted inventory of all of your customers' software and hardware, run Y2K software checks, and identified
mission-critical applications and data. There's nothing left to do but wait. Still, you yearn to do something,
anything, to prevent disaster. If you concede to your desires, we can't stop you, but we can suggest what you absolutely
shouldn't do just before Y2K hits.
1 - Do not install new software. All the love and care you've devoted to preventing Y2K fires can vanish in a puff
of smoke by one, small, untested application.
2 - Do not install new hardware. Got a neat gizmo for the holidays? Don't screw up either your or your customers'
networks by adding that gizmo to the infrastructure--even temporarily.
3 - Don't overwrite an existing backup. Use new, clean tapes to create a backup before Y2K and save the last-known
good backup separately.
4 - Do not allow downloads. A draconian method, maybe, but order your customers not to download any applications
or files from the Internet from now until the Y2K storm has blown over. While that may be a burden for your customers,
it's a far better option than losing critical data and applications to a virus or a rogue Y2K unfriendly application.
5 - Do not put all the Y2K patches and utilities on a production server. Instead, put them on a server that has
been thoroughly Y2K tested and not connected to any network. Even better, make sure the patches are on a medium
isolated from Y2K problems, such as a clean tape drive. That way, if the production server starts dancing the mambo
at 12:01 AM, you still have the repairs.
As Y2K approaches, common sense prevails. Whatever you do, don't drink alcohol. Even one beer can dull your senses,
and you'll need to remain sharp throughout the evening and into the wee hours of the morning.
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