hydra-hercules

IT Tips & Tricks

Hercules and the Hydra: Your Next Data Migration?

16 January 2023

You’re up on your desk in a defensive crouch, sweating as you turn in a slow circle. The tendons in your neck are visible, the physical effort is enormous, and your sword whooshes through the air as you slash to the left and right, all around yourself, repeatedly yelling, “Take that ... and that ... and that!” Your co-workers are pressed up against the office walls, mouths agape in fear, forearms shielding their eyes from the horror of the multi-headed monster.

Your boss storms into the room, furious, looks at your freaked-out colleagues, and then up at you on your desk, and yells, “What the hell is this? (Insert last name here), you’re fired!”

You sit up, heart pounding in your chest, breathing heavily and sweating. And you feel like an idiot. Your significant other is fast asleep beside you. You run your trembling hands through your sodden hair. You throw the covers off and lie back to cool down. None of it is real. You know that. But night after night this damned nightmare plagues you. You know you’re not Hercules, and you know there is no hydra. You’re just stressed about the upcoming data migration at work and how to avoid the thing you dread the most: the missing data that leads to downtime, complaining end-users, and bosses that are about as irate as the guy that fires you, night after night, as you thrash around in your sleep. You need to come up with a plan so that you can get a decent night’s sleep or you’re going to be in trouble at work. Seriously.

Nobody wants to be responsible for the downtime, the potential loss of revenue, the end-users who complain that they can’t do their work, or the fuming bosses that make you feel about two inches tall.

The Source of the Problem

If the thought of missing data following a migration concerns you, we understand. Nobody wants to be responsible for the downtime, the potential loss of revenue, the end-users who complain that they can’t do their work, or the fuming bosses that make you feel about two inches tall. But do you know what one of the most common causes of missing data is?

mad-boss

Uh-oh. Furious boss. Not good.

Here’s a clue: It’s something small, virtually invisible, and probably in thousands or millions of locations, scattered throughout your data. If you thought of a link, bazinga! One of the most common causes of lost or apparently missing data is the links that get broken during the migration process itself. So, what are your options for dealing with these broken links?

Well, if you’ve only got a handful of them, sure, you could stick the new guy with the unenviable task of locating and manually repairing each link. But what if you’ve got thousands or even millions of them? A manual find and fix simply isn’t practical or cost-effective. Most people would opt for some kind of script at this point, but here’s the skinny on scripts: Most scripts will only deal with a small percentage of the various link scenarios you’ll run into. Even writing just a half-decent script could take hundreds of hours — which is simply time you can’t afford. It’s the classic time versus money battle, which brings us to Hercules and the hydra.

Toxic Monster

According to Greek and Roman mythology, the hydra was a serpentine water monster with poisonous breath, and blood so toxic that even its scent was deadly. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the monster also regrew two heads every time a single head was chopped off. Hercules, with some help from his sidekick, Iolaus, managed to overcome the hydra by quickly cauterizing the neck stumps before the next pair of heads could grow.

It’s something small, virtually invisible, and probably in thousands or millions of locations, scattered throughout your data.

A Monster-Free Future

Look, if your life depended on setting a new 100-meter sprint speed, Usain Bolt would be the guy you asked to represent you. If you were faced with a “shred or die” scenario, Hendrix would be your go-to guitar guru. When it comes to protecting or repairing links, it’s no different. You want the first-in-class software that’ll lay waste to your hydra-esque situation. And that software is LinkFixer Advanced™, so ahead of its time that it opened a whole new genre of software.

Sure, you could stick the new guy with the unenviable task of locating and manually repairing each link. But what if you’ve got thousands or even millions of them?

It does everything you need it to, whether you’re in a pre- or post-migration phase. Pre-migration, it can prepare your links so that they’re automatically protected during the migration process. If you’re still formulating your migration plan, this is something you definitely want to include. Imagine getting through a migration with zero missing data due to broken links. (Sounds like your nightmares are over ...)

If you’ve already completed a migration and have more broken links than Hercules had hydra heads, LinkFixer Advanced will get you out of the mess, repairing the links and instantly restoring the missing data. No more downtime, complaining end-users, or bosses giving you the evil eye.

For more information or to request a free trial, visit LinkTek.com or call 727-442-1822 to discuss your particular situation with a knowledgeable Service Consultant. Don’t forget to ask them about the third way in which LinkFixer Advanced can help you.

With LinkFixer Advanced, you could literally be the new legend in town ... or, at least, around the office. No more nightmares? No dream-time boss firing you? Excellent. Our work here is done.

Broken links don’t multiply but given that you may be facing millions of them — far more heads than Hercules faced — in some ways, your challenge is even greater.

Feel free to share this article on your social media: