One command almost ruined Toy Story 2.

LiquidatedNotStirred · 2025-11-22T13:08:42+00:00

In 1998, Pixar faced a data disaster when an employee accidentally deleted all files of "Toy Story 2," and the backup system also failed. Technical Director Gelin Sassman rescued the project with a copy at home, and the team ultimately delivered on time. This incident underscores the importance of effective backups, including the 3-2-1 backup rule, air-gapping, access control, and regular testing.

LiquidatedNotStirred

2025-11-22 13:08:42

Abstract generation in progress

In 1998, Pixar experienced a horrific data disaster. An employee accidentally typed the command rm -rf / during a routine server cleanup, which directly deleted all files of Toy Story 2—an entire year’s worth of work vanished in seconds. Even more despairing, the backup system had quietly gone down for weeks, and no one noticed.

Just when the team was about to start over or scrap the project, technical director Gelin Sassman saved the film. She had a copy at home—because she was on maternity leave at the time, she would bring work home every week (which was still a taboo back then). She carefully transported the notebook back to the office like a newborn, and the team recovered enough data from her backup to deliver “Toy Story 2” on time.

What does this story tell us?

✓ 3-2-1 Backup Rule: 3 data copies, 2 different media types, 1 off-site storage ✓ Air Gap Isolation: Important backups must be disconnected from the network to prevent ransomware. ✓ Access Control: Not everyone should have delete permissions. ✓ Regular Testing: Backup exists ≠ usable, it must be truly verified whether it can be restored.

How many companies' backup systems are still “silently down” now?

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