Last year I built a fairly high-powered server (And wired the network, built all the client machines and swore the air blue over the @%$^£^& software he runs his practice on) for a dentist dedicated to running a fancy database with which he runs his practice.
Got a very unusual support call this afternoon. "Can you come and fix the server, it's making a noise like Kenny's drill" Told them to shut it down at close of play today. Have to be there at 7am hoping that it is a failed fan and not a failed drive.
That could be bad.
Very bad.
Last time the former server died I ended up on the reception desk as the patients arrived. In between reboots and database rollbacks and rebuilds I was the receptionist. No paper records - they're all in the temporarily (Well 10 hours later I got it working) inaccessible database. Don't ask me how much I dislike the dental practice management software I've been exposed to as it'd get me kicked out of any civilised company. Or Windows Server 2003R2 - won't work on anything more recent.
So patients come in. No records so have to ask them.
"Which dentist are you in to see?" There are 3 possibilities
"Dunno"
"Is it a man or a woman?" One of the three is female.
"Dunno"
Rats! The woman is new so:
"Does the dentist have hair?" The boss shaves his head.
"Dunno"
OK, another one for Kenny.
"Are you in for a checkup or treatment?"
"Dunno"
FFS! who are these people? There is no way at all I'm submitting to a stranger for any sort of medical treatment when I don't know exactly why I am there, or what I am there for. Now we don't normally have to pay for healthcare here, but this is a purely private practice so everyone there is paying quite a lot of money to be there at all. And they had no clue as to why they were there!
Terrifying!
That time, I finally got the server up and running just as the last patient left, ten very lucrative hours later.
But I really, really hope it is a fan and not the boot drive this time.
Remind me to image the boot drive and database this time. Easy then to roll forward from the hourly backups. I hope!
Sadly I can't take the drive image home with me on one of the many spare drives sitting around as that would break about 3,000 data protection laws.
Two weeks of data recovery, not to mention rebuilding a server on the spot is really, really not my idea of a good time. Sleeping and playing with the dog are a lot more fun even if the hourly rate is a bit worse.
So here's hoping it is just a fan with shot bearings. Am taking a bunch of fans in the hope that they are the problem.