 IowaCowboyWant to go back to IowaPremium
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA
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| reply to rradina
Re: Open Thread During Storm said by rradina:Large chain stores have crisis response teams that roll generators and potentially wireless/SATCOM networking to the affected stores. (Cash-only business results in a lot of lost sales and today, especially in this economy, it's WAY too risky to do off-line auths.)
ISPs also have generators. The challenge, when is the last time they tested that they can run the data center on them? How much on-site fuel do they have and do they have a plan in place to acquire additional fuel should there be an extended outage.
Of course that's why cloud-based virtualization makes so much sense for critical 7x24 systems. It's bringing down the cost of moving services from the affected data center BEFORE power is lost or flooded or whatever...
I know around here that Lowe's has a generator behind their store. I bought my generator there last year during the October snowstorm and they have reduced lighting but their POS systems function normally so they can ring up sales normally. Waited in line two hours and scored a generator. When I went behind the store to load the genny, their generator was running. The Stop & Shop next door also was running on a genny but only enough for the lighting and POS terminals. They had to move the perishable goods to refrigerated trucks so the customers were not allowed to use carts as they were being used to evacuate the perishable goods.
I think Big Y just disposed of their perishables and wrote it off as a business loss.
I just wish there were laws requiring gas stations to have backup power like Florida.
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Romney-Ryan and Scott Brown are the Right Choice as they are Hope & Change you can count on. |
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KearnstdElf WizardPremium
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ | guess its our old Northeastern ideal, buy the gas before the storm.
Supermarkets here do have generators for POS and Lighting, But most I know will use those for x number of hours and then shut down the store as the generator is costly to run.
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[65 Arcanist]Filan(High Elf) Zone: Broadband Reports |
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rradina
join:2000-08-08
Chesterfield, MO | reply to IowaCowboy
Lowes is different than a supermarket -- they have no perishable merchandise. They don't need a huge generator to operate safety systems and the POS. Although some merchandise is sensitive to cold, it doesn't take much electricity to run the blower motors if they have natural gas heat.
It's also important to consider that network communications will also go down and a suitable backup should be available. That's why the crisis response team should also have a SATCOM or wireless alternative for payment auths. |
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 djdanskaRudie32Premium,MVM
join:2001-04-21
San Diego, CA
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| said by rradina:Lowes is different than a supermarket -- they have no perishable merchandise. They don't need a huge generator to operate safety systems and the POS. Although some merchandise is sensitive to cold, it doesn't take much electricity to run the blower motors if they have natural gas heat.
It's also important to consider that network communications will also go down and a suitable backup should be available. That's why the crisis response team should also have a SATCOM or wireless alternative for payment auths.
nevermind |
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| reply to IowaCowboy
Parts of South Florida is under a law like you mentioned. The big gas stations have back up generators. |
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WhatNowPremium
join:2009-05-06
Charlotte, NC | A generator would only help the stations that were not flooded. I would not want to buy gas with salt water in it. |
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