(June 17, 2014 at 1:08 pm)Cthulhu Dreaming Wrote:(June 16, 2014 at 11:03 pm)Minimalist Wrote: A buddy of mine sent me a copy of a part of an internal document this morning in which they pointed out that the problem with this batch of emails that they can't find was because they had recycled the tapes that were used for backups.
The subject of the email he sent was "WHO THE FUCK STILL USES TAPE!"
This guy is no computer whiz but even he knows that the rest of the world has moved on.
Show me a technology for reliable intermediate-term storage of high-volume archival data that isn't tape, which can come close to being as economical.
Tape is still widely used.
As I said, I've been retired for 10 years and long before I left I saw a presentation about replacing the tape system - which is old and slow and very expensive - with a large compact disk system. The presentation was very professional but, of course, they never got the money to implement it.
The note I saw yesterday mentioned that the tapes had been re-cycled as a cost control measure. It seems that until the witch hunt erupted the policy had been to retain 6 months of backed-up emails on tape and then recycle the tapes. Yes, its Microsoft Outlook but it is buried behind layers of security software and it is this software (encryption shit) and multiple passwords which breaks down constantly and causes all the problems.
The note, btw, was propaganda for the work force which the IRS incorrectly assumes gives a rats ass about management issues.
True story: In the Spring of 2001 the IRS fully implemented a computerized system for its Revenue Officers (tax collectors) in the North East. All paper records were done away with and they patted themselves on the back for creating a system which took at least twice as long to do something as the old way.
Then, 9-11 happened and one of the side problems was that the telephone company building on West Street was heavily damaged when the WTC fell on it. It was only then that they discovered that the switch which controlled the data transmission for the whole fucking system was located at West Street. For three months my guys sat around with their thumbs up their asses while I, as their shop steward, got a daily briefing from the manager which usually consisted of "no news." These were short briefings but since this manager was a pretty good guy we'd usually shoot the shit for a while about how stupid the designers were. At one point my guys got so bored that they asked me to petition the chief to go back to writing out paper records. The request was denied because anything written out would have to be typed into the system when it came back up. Some of my guys read a lot of books that fall. There was even an office Trivial Pursuit Tournament between the workers.
After 3 months the phone company managed to rig a temporary switch which worked...occasionally. The entire operation ground to a standstill.
The punchline is that 5 years later, and in spite of what happened to the Collection Division, the Auditing Division implemented the same type of system for its Revenue Agents. They never fucking learn.
