Sheffield DWP offices - network crash

[Cols 10]

Just heard the news about the huge network crash at the DWP. As Sheffield is a major site in the UK I was wondering if anyone could let us know what's happening there. Just curious as I work for a compnay that used to look after the network before it was taken over by EDS.

[karl101 10]

Apparently they were doing a limited upgrade to test changing 7 computers from Win2000 to WinXP. But someone pressed the wrong button, and the system tried to upgrade all 60,000+. It didn't work.

 

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/26/dwp_network_outage/

[JoeP 11]

From what I hear it was the e-mail spine that's gone pear shaped.

 

EDS and Microsoft are in trying to sort things out.

 

We're left confronting the question - is the country just three meals or a benefit cheque away from revolution?

 

Joe

[JoeP 11]

Originally posted by karl101

Apparently they were doing a limited upgrade to test changing 7 computers from Win2000 to WinXP. But someone pressed the wrong button, and the system tried to upgrade all 60,000+. It didn't work.

 

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/26/dwp_network_outage/

 

ooohhh....

 

Beautiful.

 

Worse than what I heard then!

 

Joe

[Fowler 10]

That's really special.

 

I bet some youth was sat there wondering what that button did whilst they were upgraqding. Now he knows!

[JoeP 11]

I find it amazing that something like that could happen - in the last 20 years I've been involved in system wide upgrades for everyone from single person companies through to High Street banks, and have never been involved in soemthing quite that spectacularly bad.

 

No doubt the erpetrators will still get their pay, perks and pensions - whether tehy're permanent or contract staff.

 

Joe

[scottf 21]

haahaa- my mate paul works for EDS and he is working on this contract- i bet its his fault!!!

[mikey 10]

No wonder we haven't had many posts to the forum this week from our civil service crew:hihi:

[chill 10]

Joe, when you were my boss, I believe you had a euphemistic phrase for this sort of thing - "a career limiting action".

 

I've made a few mistakes at work in my time, but killing 60,000 PCs in one go, that deserves some kind of award. Imagine the panic the guy must have felt when he realised what he had just done.

[JoeP 11]

Originally posted by chill

Joe, when you were my boss, I believe you had a euphamistic phrase for this sort of thing - "a career limiting action".

 

I've made a few mistakes at work in my time, but killing 60,000 PCs in one go, that deserves some kind of award. Imagine the panic the guy must have felt when he realised what he had just done.

 

I did indeed!

 

A genuine brown trouser moment!

 

I was just chatting with a colleague about our equivalent **** ups...my best was doing a cartesian join on a large database system which killed the system for a day. I was young, impressionable, learning the ropes...you know...a moron...

 

Joe

[Cols 10]

We've all made mistakes.....

About 12 years ago we started getting into Cisco routers. One of the first things they tell you is never do a "debug all". Of course, that's the first thing I tried and brought down a customers network. Those were the days .....

[mikey 10]

Originally posted by chill

killing 60,000 PCs in one go, that deserves some kind of award.

 

Yeah - I expect EDS / Syntegra/ Computacenter to get some sort of award:hihi:

 

Probably a massive legal writ.