I completely agree with your supervisor, ANY planned work on a critical
system should be scheduled for a downtime window. I think it's more like
saying "Don't open your car door when your doing sixty mph"

John "Danger" Skelton

-----Original Message-----
From: Patrick Santucci [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, August 05, 1999 10:57 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: System Panel Removals


Just received this from my supervisor. Question for the list: Is this
reasonable? I know I'm probably stirring up a hornets nest but I'd like
your opinion(s) on this before I respond. My comments and
names-changed-to-protect-my-hide are in [brackets]. (Just so you know my
opinion, I think this is a PHB knee-jerk reaction with little basis in
reality. It's like saying, "Buckle your seat belt so you don't get in an
accident.")

> Subject:      System Panel removals
>
> As you all remember, system B [our 997-500] was accidentally taken down
> recently when an HP ce was performing preventive maintenance on it. He had
> basically opened the back door and was working inside, behind the system.
In
> the past, this has also happened with system L. [our AS/400]

[Actually, he had pulled out the fan tray from the *front* of the CPU
cabinet because the system was reporting that the fans were inoperable.
They were working fine, but when he slid the tray back in, they didn't
reconnect properly at the back and the system subsequently went down.
The CE then opened the *back* of the system to find and fix the problem.
To continue...]

> We all know these were accidents and "flukes" that probably had nothing to
do
> with opening the back of the system. However, the fact that the back is
being
> opened means that someone (one of us or a ce) is looking inside and maybe
> touching something.  This is what we are trying to avoid.
>
> So, from now on, we should not be doing anything or scheduling any work
with a
> ce that involves opening or removing the back off any installed host
system
> between the hours of 7am to 5pm, M-F.  Critical system problems are of
course
> the exception. Other exceptions may be made on an individual basis after
> consulting with myself or [our dept. manager]. This may seem petty but ANY
> action (direct or indirect) that results in a system going down is viewed
very
> seriously, more so now that we will be audited on all such events.
>
> [The dept. manager] is planning to document this at some point as official
> policy.

Comments?

Patrick
--
Patrick Santucci
Technical Services Analyst
KVI, a division of Seabury & Smith, Inc.
Visit our site! http://www.kvi-ins.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alcohol and calculus don't mix. Never drink and derive.
               ~ Anonymous (but sounds like Wirt Atmar)