ING Bank datacenter in Bucharest shutdown by hard drive failure caused by over 130db sound pressure levels caused by a fire extinguishing test :D

[Nano0806]

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/a-loud-sound-just-shut-down-a-banks-data-center-for-10-hours

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ING Bank’s main data center in Bucharest, Romania, was severely damaged over the weekend during a fire extinguishing test. In what is a very rare but known phenomenon, it was the loud sound of inert gas being released that destroyed dozens of hard drives. The site is currently offline and the bank relies solely on its backup data center, located within a couple of miles’ proximity.

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Local clients were unable to use debit cards and to perform online banking operations on Saturday between 1PM and 11PM

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The gas is stored in cylinders, and is released at high velocity out of nozzles uniformly spread across the data center. According to people familiar with the system, the pressure at ING Bank's data center was higher than expected, and produced a loud sound when rapidly expelled through tiny holes (think about the noise a steam engine releases).

The bank monitored the sound and it was very loud, a source familiar with the system told us. “It was as high as their equipment could monitor, over 130dB”.

Sound means vibration, and this is what damaged the hard drives. The HDD cases started to vibrate, and the vibration was transmitted to the read/write heads, causing them to go off the data tracks.

So do not scream at your hard drive, it will hate you and make you suffer :))

Personally i am an ING client and Saturday i got an email about the failure of the banking service from ING and i know a lot of co-workers who were unable to use their cards or online banking services.

BUT what i find even more interesting is that on Saturday evening at about 8PM i used my debit card to pay in a supermarket. But i did not insert the card in the POS, as you usually do around here. I used the card's VISA PayWave functionality and it worked just ok. What even more funny is that i checked online the history of my transactions and that one did not registered .

Anyway it was a small amount, about 2 euros, but i find it quite funny

 

P.S. Also watch the video in the article. The guy is really funny as he screams his lungs out at those poor hard drives

[VanayadGaming]

I read about this from a friend in the Pen Sec Business. He found it odd that they didn't have a backup system ready (a failsafe) but at the same time... restoring from an older backup everything in 10hours is also amazing. So, kudos to them for the fast fix.

[zMeul]

not an IGN client 

[Nano0806]

yeah indeed, they did a really good job at getting everything up and running again

 

But what i find to be quite puzzling is

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The site is currently offline and the bank relies solely on its backup data center, located within a couple of miles’ proximity.

I mean really!? Your backup is within a couple of miles proximity. What do you do in case of a natural disaster like an earthquake? U lose main and backup datacenter...BAAD, very bad. I mean yes, it's very likely that is not the only backup datacenter but anyway....if it's a primary backup, i don't know, i'm not an expert but that doesn't seem ok

[nobelharvards]

Someone make a rude joke about Romania and their banks.

 

Bonus points if it is really cheeky and involves gypsies.

[ScratchCat]

Oh, so it might be a bad idea to subject your vital datacentre to sounds so loud you cannot even measure, so loud they would destroy a human ear drum?

Who would have thought sounds as loud or louder than a jet could damage equipment accurate down to micrometres? 

[Nano0806]

yeah, of course.....someone had do be a racist smartass (-_Q)

[alexyy]

I believe I read something about sound being able to ruin harddrives, wonder if SSD's would have the same problem, doubt it tho they're better in every way if you ask me.

[Misanthrope]

130db? Did the thing just fucking blew up I believe that's almost as loud as a fucking jet engine. No wonder the hdds died it probably left people nearby with blown eardrums if not permanent hearing damage.

[Tech_Dreamer]

2 hours ago, Nano0806 said:

loud sound of inert gas being released that destroyed dozens of hard drives

Reminds me of that time my uncle farted next to my pc & the monitor flickered , guess my hard drive was more durable than i thought

[Admiral Naismith]

3 hours ago, Misanthrope said:

130db? Did the thing just fucking blew up I believe that's almost as loud as a fucking jet engine. No wonder the hdds died it probably left people nearby with blown eardrums if not permanent hearing damage.

I live near a busy airport. No blown eardrums yet. Though definitely some bags under the eyes.

[The Benjamins]

2 minutes ago, Admiral Naismith said:

I live near a busy airport. No blown eardrums yet. Though definitely some bags under the eyes.

is you house on the air strip, if not then it not even close to 130 dB

[Misanthrope]

5 hours ago, Nano0806 said:

yeah indeed, they did a really good job at getting everything up and running again

 

But what i find to be quite puzzling is

I mean really!? Your backup is within a couple of miles proximity. What do you do in case of a natural disaster like an earthquake? U lose main and backup datacenter...BAAD, very bad. I mean yes, it's very likely that is not the only backup datacenter but anyway....if it's a primary backup, i don't know, i'm not an expert but that doesn't seem ok

Yeah is not like they have important data like fucking bank records. It never ceases to amaze me how many security and redundancy rules key enterprises ignore.

[Master Disaster]

I love the part that says sound means vibrations.. 

 

10 points if you can name the film! 

[Noctus]

47 minutes ago, Misanthrope said:

Yeah is not like they have important data like fucking bank records. It never ceases to amaze me how many security and redundancy rules key enterprises ignore.

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yeah indeed, they did a really good job at getting everything up and running again

 

But what i find to be quite puzzling is

I mean really!? Your backup is within a couple of miles proximity. What do you do in case of a natural disaster like an earthquake? U lose main and backup datacenter...BAAD, very bad. I mean yes, it's very likely that is not the only backup datacenter but anyway....if it's a primary backup, i don't know, i'm not an expert but that doesn't seem ok

 

Yeah they should know better with all those Romanian earthquakes, supercells and tornado's they be getting.

[Misanthrope]

2 minutes ago, Noctus said:

Yeah they should know better with all those Romanian earthquakes, supercells and tornado's they be getting.

Hey my city has been getting 4.0 earthquakes lately after centuries of no activity due to fraking*, you'd be surprised.

 

*However you spell it, that deep oil and gas mining with heavy duty hydraulic equipment thing they do now.

[Master Disaster]

2 minutes ago, Noctus said:

Yeah they should know better with all those Romanian earthquakes, supercells and tornado's they be getting.

Super cells are basically tornadoes though, aren't they? 

[Noctus]

2 minutes ago, Misanthrope said:

Hey my city has been getting 4.0 earthquakes lately after centuries of no activity due to phraking, you'd be surprised.

And Romania is at the Black Sea not far off the Med. Ideal phracking locations...

1 minute ago, Master Disaster said:

Super cells are basically tornadoes though, aren't they? 

No. A supercell is a gigantic thunderstorm. Tornado's have a chance of being created from one.

[Master Disaster]

1 minute ago, Noctus said:

No. A supercell is a gigantic thunderstorm. Tornado's have a chance of being created from one.

Fair enough, I knew I'd heard the stormchaser maniacs talking about Supercells. 

[Noctus]

Just now, Master Disaster said:

Fair enough, I knew I'd heard the stormchaser maniacs talking about Supercells. 

Yeah, most cases some sort of tornado-esque thing appears hence all those nutters in their kitted out jeeps lol.

[Prysin]

6 hours ago, Misanthrope said:

130db? Did the thing just fucking blew up I believe that's almost as loud as a fucking jet engine. No wonder the hdds died it probably left people nearby with blown eardrums if not permanent hearing damage.

louder. 747 on take-off is approximatly 125db.

American railwayhorns are rated at 122db across 7 different octaves

[Nano0806]

10 hours ago, Noctus said:

Yeah they should know better with all those Romanian earthquakes, supercells and tornado's they be getting.

Well, supercells and tornados no. But earthquakes yes. In 1940 there was a 7.4 degrees Richter scale earthquake in Romania, and in 1977 a 7.2 degrees one which killed 1570 people and injured 11000

 

Here's a photo taken in Bucharest in 1977 after the earthquake;

 

.....time is ticking

[Bouzoo]

11 hours ago, Master Disaster said:

10 points if you can name the film! 

Dogma, Buddy Jesus. 

[Shepanator]

I was chased into Bucharest airport by a taxi driver with a screwdriver once.

Never went back

[KuJoe]