Subject RE: [firebird-support] Securing database against corruption on systems that suddenly get turned off
Author Helen Borrie
At 11:34 p.m. 21/09/2015, Glenn Thomas Hvidsten glhv@... [firebird-support] wrote:
>Thanks for the link.
>Without specifically setting a new value, how can I check what setting is currently in use?

In Firebird's ..\bin directory, in a shell, do

gstat -h path\to\database
Look at the Attributes near the bottom. If "Force Write" is there, then it is on. If not, then it is off.

I echo the advice to put that server on a UPS. I consider I have problems if the power goes out once a month! which it does here, on average, due to the apparent inability of the council and telecoms workers to read a cable map before attacking the environment with digging machinery.

I have servers running all versions of Firebird on both Windows and Linux. I have an Eton 3S 700 UPS to which two desktop machines are connected; also my external backup drives and the shared monitor. I get more than enough time off this rather small UPS to shut everything down gracefully.

For the old versions and new betas I use a menagerie of old-but-good Thnkpad notebooks with good batteries. I run them off the mains and run them down on a monthly cycle to preserve the batteries. When the power goes out, I have several hours' coverage, more than I need. I also have one notebook acting as a replication target (see http://www.ibphoenix.com/products/software/ibreplicator ), which gives me a "hot backup" in case the source database[s] get corrupted by a power cut. To date, I haven't had any corrupted databases of my own.

I have one TP T43 running Linux that is a brilliant machine but the power jack is broken so I have to run it off a port replicator attached to the mains. I also have an old T42 whose cooling system is dead. So I use the T42 to charge the batteries for the T43 so that she always has a charged battery on board. The total cost of both of those machines, bought as "refurbs", was less than $100.

I feel it is bad enough that your customer doesn't care enough about his data to have the best UPS money can buy. But doesn't he care about hardware damage, either?


Helen Borrie, Support Consultant, IBPhoenix (Pacific)
Author of "The Firebird Book" and "The Firebird Book Second Edition"
http://www.firebird-books.net
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