NYC LOCAL: Thursday 17 January 2013 UNIGROUP: Hurricane Sandy Aftermath and War Stories

[secr...@lxny.org]

<blockquote
what="official UNIGROUP announcement"
assurance="there will be giveaways and food"
rsvp="registration requested, see below"
entrance-fee="yes, see http://www.unigroup.org/unigroup-fees.html"
location="The Cooper Union School of Engineering, see below"
info="http://www.unigroup.org"
edits="some paragraphs removed so notice fits in mailboxen">

Date: Tue, 15 Jan 2013 18:32:02 -0500 (EST)
From: Unigroup_of_NY <uni...@unigroup.org>
Subject: Reminder: UNIGROUP 17-JAN-2013 (Thu): Hurricane Sandy Aftermath & War Stories

Unigroup is Thursday...
Please RSVP if you will be attending, and have not already done so...

====================================================================
UNIGROUP OF NEW YORK - UNIX USERS GROUP - JANUARY 2013 ANNOUNCEMENTS
====================================================================

--------------------------------------
1. UNIGROUP'S JANUARY 2013 MEETING NOTICE
--------------------------------------

When: Thursday, January 17th, 2013 (*** 3rd Thursday ***)

Where: The Cooper Union <http://www.cooper.edu>
School of Engineering (*** New Building ***)
41 Cooper Square (3rd Ave @ 7th St, bet. 6th & 7th Sts)
East Village, Manhattan
New York City
Meeting Room: LL101_CS (LL=Lower Level)
** Please RSVP ** (Note: Room Changes Month-to-Month)

Time: 6:15 PM - 6:30 PM Registration
6:30 PM - 6:45 PM Ask the Wizard, Questions,
Answers and Current Events
6:45 PM - 7:00 PM Unigroup Business and Announcements
7:00 PM - 9:30 PM Main Presentation

Cost: See the Meeting+Membership Fee Schedule Below.

-----------------------------------------
Topic: Hurricane Sandy Aftermath and War Stories
-----------------------------------------

Speakers: Panel Discussion,
featuring various Unigroup Board Members and Members,
meeting attendees, and special guests from the
NYC Technical Community.

The following describes the industry categories for
some of our panelists:
Financial/Wall Street, Governmental OEM, Education,
Community Broadband WiFi, ISP/Datacenter/CoLo,
Computer Consulting/Engineering.

Moderator, Storm Background and Information:
Robert Weiner, President,
Programming Plus <http://www.progplus.com>,
Executive Director of Unigroup of NY, Inc.
<www.unigroup.org>.

Special Guest:
Bob Hunt, Sr. IT Pro Evangelist,
Microsoft <www.microsoft.com>

Featured Guest:
Phillip Koblence, VP of Operations,
NYI <www.nyi.net>

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INTRODUCTION:
-------------

Happy New Year to everyone from Unigroup!

Unigroup Elections: Unigroup holds Board of Director Elections
every January. If you are a Unigroup Member and would like to
run for the Unigroup Board, please contact us on or before our
January 2013 meeting. Board members are expected to regularly
attend Unigroup General and Board Meetings, and basically help
the rest of the board run Unigroup. If you would like to help
out Unigroup, but not join the board officially, please let us
know. Unigroup needs your help! Unigroup is a not-for-profit
volunteer organization, and has been serving the Greater NYC
Metro Unix Users Community for 30 years!

Unigroup's January 2013 meeting will be an informal technical
panel discussion about the Super Storm Sandy, and how it
effected the Greater NYC Area IT community and its overall
technical infrastructure. We hope to hear MANY storm stories
and experiences from a variety of different people. The goal
is to make everyone aware of the possible dangers and outcomes
from such events, and to help everyone properly plan for the
next emergency situation that may occur. I also have prepared
a bunch of background material on the storm, with useful URLs.

Unigroup wants your input- please bring your stories and
experiences with you if you will be attending this meeting
(perhaps even jot down some notes now, in preparation).
Bring stories from your friends and colleagues as well.

And, if you do have a specific Technology/Infrastructure story
to tell, please let us know at the meeting!

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SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS:
---------------------

Most Unigroup meetings are open to the public!

To REGISTER for this event, please RSVP by using the Unigroup
Registration Page:
http://www.unigroup.org/unigroup-rsvp.html

This will allow us to automate the registration process.
(Registration will also add you to our mailing list.)
Please avoid Emailed RSVPs.

Please continue to check the Unigroup web site and meeting page,
for any last minute updates concerning this meeting. If you
registered for this meeting, please check your Email for any last
minute announcements as the meeting approaches. Also make sure
any anti-spam white-lists are updated to _ALLOW_ Unigroup traffic!
If you block Unigroup Emails, your address will be dropped from
our mailing list.

Also, if you have an interest in Unigroup, be sure to receive
Unigroup information DIRECTLY from Unigroup, via direct receipt
of Emails and by visiting the Unigroup Web Site. NO OTHER SOURCE
provides timely, accurate and complete Unigroup information.

Please RSVP as soon as possible, preferably at least 2-3 days
prior to the meeting date, so we can plan the food order.
RSVP deadline is usually the night before the meeting day.

Note: RSVP is requested for this location to make sure the guard
will let you into the building. RSVP also helps us to
properly plan the meeting (food, drinks, handouts,
seating, etc.) and speed up your sign-in at the meeting.
If you forget to RSVP prior to the meeting day, you may
still be able to show up and attend our meeting, however,
we cannot guarantee what building security will do if
you are "not on the list".

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MAIN PRESENTATION
-----------------

Topic: Hurricane Sandy Aftermath and War Stories

Introduction & Description of Talk:
-----------------------------------

Unigroup is holding a Hurricane Sandy War Stories and Aftermath
discussion at our January 2013 meeting.

We will discuss how the storm effected our area, our members, and
their respective homes and businesses; discuss the effectiveness
of disaster preparedness and business continuity plans; discuss how
the storm effected different parts of our area differently, and how
quickly/slowly services were restored (power, infrastructure,
transportation, Voice/Data/Internet/Cellular/WiFi/Satellite
communications, etc); effectiveness of systems and equipment dealing
with the storm and its consequences (UPS/surge, electrical/backup
power, flood prevention, communications primary/backup links, etc);
unexpected problems post-storm (such as strange printer issues);
how can things be handled better/differently going forward;
availability of correct and timely information or lack thereof;
mass notification systems and did they actually work; etc.

References & Web Resources:
---------------------------

NY Times Sandy Interactive Flood Map:
http://www.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2012/1120-sandy/survey-of-the-flooding-in-new-york-after-the-hurricane.html
(!! Excellent !!)

USGS Hurricane Sandy 2012 Flood Event:
http://water.usgs.gov/floods/events/2012/sandy

Wikipedia on Hurricane Sandy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_sandy

DataCenterKnowledge Hurricane Sandy Articles:
http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2012/10/30/major-flooding-nyc-data-centers/
(just one of many stories that we will discuss at the meeting)

Netcraft on NYI Remaining Up Across the Storm:
http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2012/11/02/new-york-internet-rides-out-the-storm.html

NYC Flood Hazards:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/oem/downloads/pdf/hazard_mitigation/section_3j_flooding_hazard_analysis.pdf
(yes, it was predicted years ago)

USC/ISI Preliminary Analysis of Network Outages During Sandy:
ftp://ftp.isi.edu/isi-pubs/tr-685.pdf

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Featured Speaker Biography:
---------------------------

Phillip Koblence, VP of Operations, NYI: Phillip Koblence is
Co-Founder and Vice President of Operations at the New York Internet
Company <www.nyi.net>. Since 1996, he has worked directly with NYI
customers to create customized, high-touch data center solutions.
A New York native, Phil has brought a New York attitude to a
business that often forgets that at the end of the day, it's about
people, not hardware. Under his leadership, NYI has grown from a
single data presence to multiple tier 3 facilities throughout the
New York City area. NYI's customer roster spans industries like
media and finance, technology and fashion, law and architecture.
Phil has spoken at a variety of local technology industry events
and been profiled by Data Center Knowledge, TheWHIR, MSPMentor, and
NJ BIZ. He has also contributed to CRN and NJ Business Magazine.
He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, with an
Engineering degree.

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Featured Company Biography:
---------------------------

NYI Corporate Overview: Established in 1996, NYI is headquartered
in the heart of the Wall Street area, with facilities in both
Lower Manhattan and Bridgewater, New Jersey. The company's core
services include colocation and dedicated servers, cloud computing
and managed services, disaster recovery and business continuity
planning. NYI provides mission-critical data solutions for a
broad range of industries, including media, financial services,
healthcare, law, fashion, architecture, life sciences and real
estate. NYI is SSAE 16, PCI and HIPPA-compliant. It also works
with financial services companies to achieve FINRA 4370
compliance. For more information, visit: <http://www.nyi.net>.

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< ... />


Fee Schedule:
-------------

Unigroup is a Professional Technical Organization and User Group,
and its members pay a yearly membership fee. For Unigroup members,
there is usually no additional charges (ie. no meeting fees) during
their membership year. Non-members who wish to attend Unigroup
meetings are usually required to pay a "Single Meeting Fee".

Yearly Membership (includes all meetings): $ 50.00
Student Yearly Membership (with current! ID): $ 25.00
Non-Member Single Meeting Fee: $ 20.00
Non-Member Student Single Meeting (with! ID): $ 5.00

* Payment Methods: Cash, Check, American Express.

! Students: We are looking for proof that you are
currently enrolled in classes (rather than working
full-time), and as such, your Student ID should show
a CURRENT date. We have been presented Student IDs
containing NO dates whatsoever, and in the
current environment, perpetual/non-expiring access
to university facilities just does not feel right.
If your ID contains no date, please bring
additional proof of current enrollment. Thanks,

NOTE: Simply receiving Unigroup Email Announcements does
NOT indicate membership in Unigroup.

Members: Remember to bring your Unigroup membership card with
you to the meeting, to confirm your yearly renewal date!

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Food:
-----

Complimentary Food and Refreshments will be served. This
includes "wraps" such as turkey, roast beef, chicken, tuna
and grilled vegetables as well as assorted salads (potato,
tossed, pasta, etc), cookies, brownies, bottled water and
assorted SOFT beverages.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Directions:
-----------

The Cooper Union <http://www.cooper.edu>
School of Engineering (*** New Building ***)
41 Cooper Square (3rd Avenue @ 7th St, between 6th & 7th Streets)
East Village, Manhattan
New York City, 10003
Meeting Room: ** (See Above, Room Changes Month-to-Month)

Located on the East side of Cooper Square. Look for the
new building with the non-traditional appearance.
Entrance is at the corner of 3rd Avenue and 7 Street.

Building lobby sign-in is required at the guard's desk.
Enter the building, check in with the guard at the lobby for
directions to Unigroup (the room varies from month-to-month).

Nearest mass transit stations are:
'6' to Astor Place (stops right at The Cooper Union),
then walk 1 block East and 1 block South.
'R' to 8th Street, then walk about 2 blocks East
then 1 block South.
'4/5/6/R/N/Q' to Union Square, then walk South and East.
'B/D/F/V' to Broadway-Lafayette, then walk North and East.

Free street parking in the area becomes available at 6pm.

There are also parking lots on Broadway, at (or just south of)
Astor Place (8th Street).

-----

Please mark this meeting on your calendar and join us!
Please tell your friends about Unigroup!

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--------------
2. PRIOR MEETINGS
--------------

** Formal Thank You's to our previous speakers will appear
in an upcoming announcement. Unigroup issues a "Thank You"
to all our speakers and sponsors!

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< ... />

--------------------
4. UNIGROUP INFORMATION
--------------------

Unigroup is one of the oldest and largest Unix User's Groups serving
the Greater New York City Regional Area since the early 1980s.
Unigroup is a not-for-profit, vendor-neutral and member funded
volunteer organization. Unigroup holds regular and special event
meetings throughout the year on technical topics relating to Unix
and the Unix/Linux/BSD User Community.

Unigroup holds regular meetings planned for (at a minimum) the Third
THURSDAY of Odd Months. We generally try to hold Field Trip or
Vendor Specific Meetings on the Even Months, although we do have the
ability to hold monthly meetings at our regular meeting location.

Planned regular meeting dates are (usually 3rd Thursdays):
01/17/2013, 03/21/2013, 05/16/2013, 07/18/2013, ...
Also watch for Special Event meetings and "Field Trips" to the
facilities of local hardware and software vendors.

=========================================================================
= For Unigroup Information, Events and Meeting Announcements be sure to =
= visit our World Wide Web Home Page: =
= http://www.unigroup.org =
=========================================================================

For further information or to get on the Unigroup Electronic Mail Mailing
List send an EMail message to:
unilist (-a_t-) unigroup.org

To contact the Board of Directors of Unigroup, send an EMail message to:
uniboard (-a_t-) unigroup.org

If you have recently attended a meeting and you are not receiving
Email announcements, please send us an Email and we will make
corrections to our lists.

Please Email the Board with any suggestions, especially potential
meeting topics and speakers. Unigroup welcomes contributions and
content suggestions for our newsletter. Unigroup is a volunteer
organization and we need your assistance! Please let us know if you
can help!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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-Rob Weiner
Unigroup Executive Director
unilist (-a_t-) unigroup.org
http://www.unigroup.org

</blockquote>


Distributed poC TINC:

Jay Sulzberger <secr...@lxny.org>
Corresponding Secretary LXNY
LXNY is New York's Free Computing Organization.
http://www.lxny.org