With the last-week failure of a data storage unit in a warehouse outside of Richmond causing havoc in the computer networks of several Virginia agencies, the officials of the state said in a September 1 statement that the efforts are on to restore data and applications for the affected agencies.

As per a Thursday statement by Chief Information Officer Sam Nixon the problem started on August 25 when a pair of three-year-old memory cards – each supposedly a back up for another – crashed.

The virtual crash of the data storage unit knocked out 485 of the Virginia government’s 4,800 servers, and initially severed service to 27 state agencies. While service to all the affected agencies was restored within three days of the incident, three agencies - the Department of Motor Vehicles and two others – still remain affected.

According to the information forwarded by the Virginia Information Technologies Agency (VITA) and vendor partner Northrop Grumman, the integrity of the affected data is being tested by the staff members.

Noting that the baffling crash exposes the vulnerability of modern, massively-complex interconnected computer networks, an Arizona technology analyst, Robin Harris, who writes a blog on computer storage systems, said: “People in the industry are watching in horrified fascination as this unfolds. There's a lot of 'there but for the grace of God go I' kind of thinking.”