Gil223
Regular Member
At least that's what the headline of a CCRKBA (Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms) email says. Here's an short excerpt from the email:
I have been around computers for almost 40 years, starting with the Burroughs 3500 in the early-1970s, and owned my own computer business for 7 years. Regardless of whether it's a large mainframe system or a PC Network on steroids, 60 hours is not an unreasonable amount of time to upgrade an entire system. However, there are numerous variables that must be taken into account...
First: How much equipment is involved in the upgrade and how easily is it moved in or out of the data center?
Then all the others in no particular order:
How big is the company doing the upgrade, and how many persons did the contract specify were delegated to complete the job?
What exactly does the "upgrade" entail? Software upgrades are relatively quick and easy. Hardware replacement is considerably more challenging. How many servers are involved? Will they be re-cabling the entire State Police building where the mainframe or servers are located?
Is that 60 hour figure based on consecutive clock hours, or is it just one shift per day? There's a big difference in accessibility between a 2.5 day shutdown, and a 7.5 day
unavailability (which could possibly turn into 8-9 calendar days... the weekend - or at least Sunday - is normally time off)
Most computer technicians work an 8 hour day. How many shifts were contracted - 1, 2 or 3?
And on, and on. Working 'round the clock - with 3 shifts - 60 hours = 2.5 calendar days. Not at all unreasonable, IMHO. However, Pennsylvania is not the friendliest of states to hand-gunners, so they may have planned to stay offline for that 8-9 days, just to inconvenience their fellow Pennsylvanians. Pax...
A complete shutdown of the Pennsylvania Instant Check System by the state police for a period of 60 hours later this month for a system upgrade is "inexcusable," the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.
"Closing down the background check system, and thus suspending all firearms transactions and concealed carry license processing simply allows the Pennsylvania State Police to obstruct the gun rights of law-abiding citizens," said CCRKBA Chairman Alan M. Gottlieb. "We are not reassured by a promise from the agency that it will expedite this computer system update in order to restore service as soon as possible. Access to the computers for background checks should not be suspended at all."
I have been around computers for almost 40 years, starting with the Burroughs 3500 in the early-1970s, and owned my own computer business for 7 years. Regardless of whether it's a large mainframe system or a PC Network on steroids, 60 hours is not an unreasonable amount of time to upgrade an entire system. However, there are numerous variables that must be taken into account...
First: How much equipment is involved in the upgrade and how easily is it moved in or out of the data center?
Then all the others in no particular order:
How big is the company doing the upgrade, and how many persons did the contract specify were delegated to complete the job?
What exactly does the "upgrade" entail? Software upgrades are relatively quick and easy. Hardware replacement is considerably more challenging. How many servers are involved? Will they be re-cabling the entire State Police building where the mainframe or servers are located?
Is that 60 hour figure based on consecutive clock hours, or is it just one shift per day? There's a big difference in accessibility between a 2.5 day shutdown, and a 7.5 day
unavailability (which could possibly turn into 8-9 calendar days... the weekend - or at least Sunday - is normally time off)
Most computer technicians work an 8 hour day. How many shifts were contracted - 1, 2 or 3?
And on, and on. Working 'round the clock - with 3 shifts - 60 hours = 2.5 calendar days. Not at all unreasonable, IMHO. However, Pennsylvania is not the friendliest of states to hand-gunners, so they may have planned to stay offline for that 8-9 days, just to inconvenience their fellow Pennsylvanians. Pax...
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