FOLSOM, Calif./EWORLDWIRE/June 2, 2008 --- When something "goes out with a bang," it is often is the final act of a good, old-fashioned Western, and in the case of NewsBlaze part of that image is true - the Western part, anyway. While it might not have been as fiery as a shuttle take-off, at 5:45 p.m. Houston time, a transformer in The Planet H1 datacenter exploded and wiped out three walls in the building. The severity of the blast meant that the responding fire department required all generators, and the building was without power."We are so very thankful no one was injured," said NewsBlaze Chief Editor Alan Gray.
Because the NewsBlaze Web server equipment resides in another datacenter, NewsBlaze was initially unaffected. Shortly into the situation, it was determined the nameservers that direct Web traffic to NewsBlaze were in the H1 building, and over a short period of time, readers couldn't access News Stories. Gray commented this loss was a real pity, because there was a lot of interesting coverage this weekend.
The DNS routing problem was compounded by inability to deliver and access e-mail.
Gray expressed his thanks to The Planet staff for getting everything back in order and to the NewsBlaze team of writers and readers for sharing their concerns and well-wishes. However, Gray did note that "The Planet management needs to rework its disaster recovery plan."
"Thank you for being a NewsBlaze Friend," Gray added. "we really appreciate you and thank you for telling all your friends we're back up again - it really helps."
Concluded Gray, "Any time a problem is experienced, we have an opportunity to review what occurred, to see how the situation was handled and determine what we can put in place to avert or minimize any future calamities. Clearly, the fire was not something anyone could have predicted with certainty. However, once we finish recovery -which will take a few more days - we will certainly be assessing our own plans for continuation of service."
About NewsBlaze
Newsblaze is an online source of information, commentary, and satire. Journalists cover various topics ranging from politics to health to music. Every day the NewsBlaze Web site is visited by thousands of readers from all over the world. Visit 'http://www.newsblaze.com' to learn more.
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