SM Studios

Project Overview

My previous employer’s original photography studio was closing, and after nearly everything else was moved out, what remained was a 265 TB Nexsan storage server. For a while there were two locations with two groups of staff, and differing workflows meant we couldn’t guarantee a 1:1 copy of the data in both locations. The large amount of storage meant a network transfer was not feasible. With the help of Backblaze, the backup provider, we used their Fireball service to bulk upload the data. That ensured it was not the only copy: if the existing storage server hardware didn’t survive transit, we could rebuild and restore.

Project Details & Outcome

The Fireball upload was both stressful and fascinating. We needed four or five Fireballs (which were just Synology NASs) that each had 6 disks, if I recall correctly. The 265 TB of data on the server needed to be organized into identically sized buckets for each Fireball, encrypted, with a very very important key. It was a lot to orchestrate on site, even with our MSP guiding me. After the transfer came the nerve-wracking packing and shipping, and of course the upload to the cloud. Once the data was confirmed, using Archiware to view, download, and upload the data, came the server tear-down.

Again, alone on site but with our MSP as my tech guardian angel, I painstakingly marked each drive and its corresponding bay, packaged them into anti-static bags and into a custom-made hard drive box, and lovingly placed them neatly into a bright orange U-Haul box truck. After meticulous cable documenting, I tore the rest of the tower down, disconnecting and packing the old Mac tower computer host, the now empty disk arrays, network switches, and UPS battery backups.

The resulting move went smoothly. I almost wish there was something to add, a problem or something that we had to work through, but (after a good deal of vacuuming out a decade’s worth of dust) we reassembled it the next day, connected a desktop to the network, and it all came back up.

Case Study & Reflection

Due to my previous employer’s relative fame in the photography world, and our unique situation, Backblaze thought it worthwhile to do a case study on it. In it, during the discovery interview, I was quoted saying that “I’m not an IT guy…” and I kind of resent it now, in hindsight. Because at the time I was still very much responsible for general IT around the studio, network access, computer updates, printer connections, password resets, but knew that my knowledge and skills were just the tip of the IT iceberg.

My knowledge has grown exponentially since then. While I’ve since left this role, and am in a non-technical occupation right now, it sparked a new personal interest in understanding storage infrastructure on a deeper level. I’ve developed an appreciation for open source software, ZFS, Linux, and overall just digital sovereignty over the media and content we create and share.

Links

• Backblaze case study — backblaze.com