Monitoring sb01

We manage a lot of servers here, and there is a monitoring system in place that alerts us whenever a server is in trouble or on the verge of trouble. It’s pretty effective, but it lacks one important feature: it cannot monitor sb01.

sb01 is an integral cog in the DiscountASP.NET machine, and when it goes down activity here in the office comes to a standstill. People become edgy and anxious and pace around waiting for a fix. Our best system administrators are helpless to assist, and we have to rely on an outside service to get sb01 back up and running.

sb01 is our Starbucks Interactive Cup™ Brewer.

A few months ago sb01 was on the ropes. It was breaking down every few weeks and management was becoming angry and frustrated. The I-Cup techs were scratching their heads and beards, at somewhat of a loss as to what the core problem could be. Eventually they called a regional meeting and spent several days monitoring sb01, resulting in a team of experts working on-site in a feverish two hour marathon session that culminated in the back breaking and dangerous replacement of a big metal thingy.

And then, like a miracle, sb01 was back on its feet.

Ever since those days we have been scrambling for a method to add sb01 to the monitoring network, but so far our attempts have been wildly unsuccessful. We have resorted to weekly “grounds maintenance” with a straw and a fistful of paper towels to avoid a crash, and so far it has been working very well. Keep your fingers crossed, because sb01 is a very important piece of hardware.

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