This is a story in the “Knights of Hyper-V” series, an attempt at humor, with actual technical content hidden in the details. This particular one is just for fun though. Any resemblance of actual trademarks or people or events (real or those that can only be found residing inside your mind), is purely coincidental and should be disregarded.
The knights of Hyper-V were doing some spring cleaning. Or, it was actually summer and thus to late in the year to call it spring cleaning anymore. Project setbacks, slow equipment deliveries and the plague-that-shall-not-be-named had severely hampered progress. But finally, the day had arrived to replace some of the hard working VMs with fresh new ones, running updated software versions glistening in the summer sun. Or covered in the more gloomy, but oh so common summer rain. And perhaps snow, locusts or other more or less funny local phenomenon.
The old servers was not really all that old, but a change in networking politics had ushered in an early swap over. We were leaving the The Wasteland of Nexus for a new and supposedly better (and cheaper) Wasteland. With software-defined wasteland processors or something to that effect. The knights did not really care, all they knew was that new network armor plate connections were required, and that was always a pain in the backside. The application minions would be grumpy as they would have to write scroll after scroll of requests beseeching for safe paths through the walls of fire.
But enough of the backstory. After a long, looong time the imposed quest for a new wasteland was nearing its end, and it was time for cleanup. Most of the knights were finally at summer vacation, preparing to queue along the congested paths to the beach, waiting in line to look over a cliff, visiting distant relations or hiding in a deep dungeon to escape the aforementioned plague. Only a skeleton crew (not composed of actual skeletons this time) remained to watch over the systems and do the odd cleanup job. A passing minstrel wrote an ode to one of the old servers in exchange for a late breakfast, or early lunch depending on your point of view.:
Ode to server sixteen
New servers come in, and old ones get phased out.
It exists now only as a memory
Vanished into thin air
Like a fleeting ghost in the machine
Binary code rearranged to form new beginnings
It will always remain in our hearts
For the time being, all was well in the kingdom. All the VMs were kept in line by the automated all-seeing eye of OM, and it was time to relax, read, and practice dragon slaying if one was such inclined. Till next time, enjoy your life such as it is. Remember, things could always be worse. Before you know it, the roars of a three-headed Application bug dragon and the distant horrified screams of application team minions could wake you from your slumber…
