Backup Reminder!!!

[JonD]

Just a reminder that there are two types of storage drives.  Ones that don't work, and ones that someday will not work.  It might be in the next 30 minutes, or the next 30 years, but one day it is going to fail.  Will you be prepared when that happens?  There is nothing worse than having a line of cars wrapped around the corner, and your light display is not working.

You may want to have a contingency plan for your display.  Auto backups are wonderful, and have saved my bacon a couple of times, but they may not save you from a drive failure.  You should backup xlights/LOR/Vixen/Etc software, FPP devices, controllers, and anything else you can think of.  Place all the backups in a safe place off-line.  Even if you can recreate it from memory, it is typically much quicker and easier to hit the restore button. 

During Christmas season is it common for replacement items to take several days to ship (assuming there is inventory available to buy).  I personally have spare controllers, spare light strings, extra extension cables, and etc.  Nothing wrong with shutting the display off for the season, or until spare parts arrive if that is your preference, but I recommend it being on your terms, and not mother natures. 

Wishing you an outage free season!!!

[jnealand]

Seems like the things that failed for me in the past were always something that gave me big heartburn,  I'm with you these days, I have spare controllers, wire, lights, fuses, and even a backup FM transmitter.  I also no longer try to use every port in a controller and therefore may be able to just move props between controllers if need be.