97 Things Every SRE Should Know

Preface

If there is one defining trait of an SRE, it would be curiosity. There’s something about trying to understand how a system works, bringing it back from failure, or generally improving it that tickles the parts of our brains where curiosity lives. This trait is probably common through most, if not all, engineering practices. There’s a story we both love that seems to encompass this trait perfectly.

On November 14, 1969, as Apollo 12 was lifting off from its launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Florida, it was struck by lightning. Twice. First at 36.5 seconds after liftoff and then again at 52 seconds. Later the incident reports would show that the lightning had caused a power surge and inadvertently disconnected the fuel cells, leading to a voltage drop.

In the moment though, there was anything but clarity.

In an instant, every alarm in the Apollo 12 command capsule went off. Telemetry readings in Houston were complete gibberish. For an organization that thinks through everything, they never thought to ask what to do when lightning strikes. What were the chances?

Even worse, the stakes couldn’t be higher. If the mission is aborted, NASA loses a $1.2 billion rocket. If not, and the safety of the astronauts is compromised, you end up broadcasting a catastrophe to the whole world. When listening back to a recording of mission control, you can feel the tension and stress.

There’s a moment of silence on the audio loop before someone cuts in: “try SCE to Aux.” This wasn’t something ever ...