Computer crash hits Langley

A crashed out computer server at Langley City Hall made city work a little more difficult this week and made it impossible for some people to get an online version of the city’s quality of life survey.

Last Wednesday, the city’s server suffered a hard drive failure. Rick Hill, the city’s public works director and computer hardware manager, said the city’s billing software was a likely culprit in the failure. Another factor that may have contributed to the computer’s crash, he said, was its age. Six years old this year, the server was due to be replaced next year.

The failure might not have been noticed by anyone outside of City Hall were it not for the fact that the city’s Web site, www.langleywa.org, suffered from neglect as a result.

Bob Snyder, the city’s building official who doubles as the city’s network administrator, had to spend his computer maintenance time during the past week resurrecting software and data from the stricken machine instead of updating the Web site. Of current interest on the site is a survey form mailed out to all Langley residents two weeks ago. The survey was written to sample residents’ attitudes on the city’s future growth and its current look and feel. Those who wanted to get additional forms online could not.

The city’s server and Web site were, in Hills’ words, “limping along” this week. He said the city is waiting for replacement parts for the machine. The city probably will replace the machine in 2003.

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