How We Accidentally Nuked the CEO’s Parents’ Clinic Network (And Lived to Tell the Tale)
If you’ve ever worked in IT, you know that “oops” moments are part of the job. Maybe you deleted a test file on the wrong server, or perhaps you rebooted the printer during a print marathon. But nothing quite compares to the horror of taking down a live medical clinic’s entire network—especially when it belongs to your CEO’s parents and is located literally next door.
This is the true tale of how a simple demo setup spiraled into a legendary tech support disaster, one that now lives in company lore (and Reddit infamy).
When the Demo Became a Drama
Let’s set the scene: Our narrator, u/CheckTec00, is an apprentice at a company managing networks for medical practices. The tools of choice? Unifi gear everywhere—office, clients, clinics, you name it. The CEO’s parents run a clinic next door. Their network, for reasons probably involving convenience and a dash of “what could possibly go wrong?”, sits behind the main office’s network.
One day, a routine task lands on a colleague’s desk: set up a demo server rack. The instructions are clear and simple. Plug a laptop into the Unifi Dream Machine (UDM) via LAN (no WiFi—safety first!), restore a backup image, add it to the Enterprise Management system, and done. What could possibly go wrong?
As it turns out, everything.
The Perfect Storm of Similarity
After supposedly restoring the backup, the team unplugs the LAN and tries to access the UDM’s web interface. Oddly, it’s missing from the management portal. Cue scratching of heads, muttered curses, and frantic troubleshooting. Meanwhile, next door, the CEO’s parents’ clinic suddenly loses ALL network connectivity. Phones, computers, patient management—poof. Gone.
Here’s the punchline: The UDM the team was fiddling with wasn’t the demo unit at all. Nor was it the one serving the office. Nope—it was the clinic’s live production system. Why? Because both the demo unit and the clinic’s UDM happened to have identical names. In a moment of tragic comedy, the team had pushed a backup image onto the wrong device, bricking the clinic’s network in one fell swoop.
Lessons Learned (The Hard Way)
Let’s be real: everyone in IT has a story like this, though most don’t involve the boss’s family and a business that keeps people healthy. The biggest culprit here? Configuration confusion and account permissions. When everything looks the same, it’s all too easy to click the wrong thing—especially when you’re moving fast and the network names are indistinguishable.
The fallout? Let’s just say nobody was laughing in the moment. The CEO’s parents had to deal with a dead clinic network, patients waiting, and a sudden sense of déjà vu for anyone who’s ever said, “But it worked in the test environment!”
The team quickly learned their lesson. From that day forward, they created a separate Unifi account solely for demos and other clients’ networks—one that couldn’t touch the company network or, crucially, the CEO’s parents’ clinic.
Why This Story Hits Home for Every IT Pro
If you’re in tech support, you know that the line between “routine” and “disaster” can be razor-thin. A few lessons here:
- Name your devices uniquely. “UDM” might be short and sweet, but “CEO-Parents-Clinic-UDM” is much safer.
- Segregate permissions. Demo and production environments should never, ever, ever mix. Ever.
- Assume nothing. Triple-check what you’re connected to before you push any changes—especially if the consequences could make for awkward elevator rides with the CEO.
The Silver Lining
While the team probably spent a tense afternoon groveling and restoring the clinic’s network (and possibly their careers), the story had a happy ending: nobody was fired, the lesson stuck, and the tale became a cautionary legend for all new hires.
So, next time you’re about to push a backup or make a “quick change,” pause for a second. Double-check. Then triple-check. Because you never know when you might be one click away from making Reddit history yourself.
Have you ever had a tech support mishap that became legendary? Share your stories—or your near-misses—in the comments below! Let’s all learn (and laugh) together.
Inspired by u/CheckTec00’s Reddit post.
Original Reddit Post: That time we accidentally bricked the CEO’s parents’ clinic network