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How the NASDAQ data center prepared for Hurricane Irene
4 points by veyron on Aug 26, 2011 | hide | past | favorite | 2 comments
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is projecting Hurricane Irene will impact the East Coast of the United States this weekend and potentially into Monday, August 29th. As this storm approaches, we would like to remind you that the NASDAQ OMX CoLo facilities are constructed without windows to withstand hurricane force winds and we employ standard disaster recovery procedures designed for events such as this.

NASDAQ OMX Preparation:

Monthly generator tests were recently performed and all generators are functioning properly. All fuel tanks have been topped off, providing 72 hours of continuous generator operation. We have redundant backup fuel supply contracts should a power outage exceed 72 hours. Facilities and Operations staff will be onsite throughout the storm and the aftermath. In the event there is an outage, we will contact the affected clients via our e-mail distribution and inform you of our resolution steps and any conference call details if needed. During the weekend, you can contact our data center operations via remotehands@nasdaqomx.com for any requests, potential issues or questions. Beginning 6:00 a.m., Eastern Time (ET) on Monday, our CoLo Support team will be available at +1 212 231 5180, extension 1 or at coloadmin@nasdaqomx.com.

Sincerely,

NASDAQ OMX Co-Location Services




Ah yes, contracts, a fake warm and fuzzy. So what happens at 72 hours and one minute when neither of your suppliers can get to your location because the roads are blocked?

Or they have no employees because they are taking care of their families or even injured from the storm?

Or they oversubscribed their service and don't have enough fuel?

Or it is commandeered for the greater good?

Many a company have relied on "contracts" and used them as assurance that a service will be available only to be shown otherwise.


Although very loaded, Fukushima recently had a very similar problem.

Generators unfortunately are not everything -- perhaps more companies should think about how to gracefully fail instead of try to keep the ship afloat no matter the odds.




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