logicalstack's comment still makes sense if you interpret downtime to mean what you've just explained. Here are some ways that good systems guys fill their time in between deployments and triaging problems:
1. Reading security bulletins and proactively trying to determine if systems are affected and what to do about it.
2. Reading about upcoming hardware and software so that they can plan the best platforms to deploy applications to.
3. Auditing applications for various problems.
4. Doing routine testing of the validity of backups and how easily they might be restored.
I upvoted logicalstack back to 0 because he might have implied that if your systems guys are reading Hacker News all day and commenting on threads about TechCrunch articles, they might have better places to spend their reading time. Believe it or not, there really are systems guys that have their hands full doing real work and don't just sit back in their chair surfing the net and playing video games.
1. Reading security bulletins and proactively trying to determine if systems are affected and what to do about it.
2. Reading about upcoming hardware and software so that they can plan the best platforms to deploy applications to.
3. Auditing applications for various problems.
4. Doing routine testing of the validity of backups and how easily they might be restored.
I upvoted logicalstack back to 0 because he might have implied that if your systems guys are reading Hacker News all day and commenting on threads about TechCrunch articles, they might have better places to spend their reading time. Believe it or not, there really are systems guys that have their hands full doing real work and don't just sit back in their chair surfing the net and playing video games.