Canadian Nuke Bunker To Be Converted Into Data Fortress

miller60 writes "A hosting firm has purchased a nuke-resistant bunker in Novia Scotia, and plans to convert it into a data fortress for financial firms. Bastionhost hopes to attract European financial firms wary of housing sensitive data in the US due to the USA Patriot Act. The facility is one of a series of 'Diefenbunkers' built during the tenure of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker to keep the Canadian government running in the event of a nuclear attack. While not all of these underground data bunker projects work out, a similar nuke-proof bunker in Stockholm, Sweden was recently converted into a stylish high-tech data lair for an ISP."

Comments

I remember our planning in DND

[WillAffleckUW]

Basically, when we ran the numbers for nuclear war beyond a single missile, we realized the resulting nuclear winter would result in all Canadian forces and almost all of the population dying within months, and stopped wasting time on nuclear weapons, as the cost for security was higher than the deliverables of conventional weapons which were not subject to the constraints.

Basically, being in Vancouver BC at the time, you knew you had at least 10 nukes coming down, and even if intercepted, the EMP blast would take out all commercial systems and the radiation and fire storms would destroy all urban centers beyond useful measure.

So the two bunkers were a total waste of time, only there so the politicos could say they had a plan, and served no useful part, from any of our strategic war games planning.

Re:I remember our planning in DND

[suso]

Since when did Dungeons and Dragons have nuclear missles? Is that a 4th edition thing?

Re:I remember our planning in DND

[Ethanol-fueled]

Well, the artist's rendition sure dosen't make it look very safe.

It looks as sturdy as Windows XP's default wallpaper, they might as well paint a big bullseye on it, its inhabitants should hope that the neighbor's kid dosen't own a BB gun or that the tree dosen't come crashing down on it, etc. etc.

Re:I remember our planning in DND

[WillAffleckUW]

Department of National Defense, also goes by the French acronym.

At one point, after remuster, I was Chief Clerk for Pacific Region.

Re:I remember our planning in DND

[girlintraining]

Since when did Dungeons and Dragons have nuclear missles? Is that a 4th edition thing?

Yeah, it's called otiluke's flaming nuclear hellball. But it can only be used by lawful evil.

Re:I remember our planning in DND

[Hoi Polloi]

I'm just amazed that they thought someone would bother nuking Canada. The only people I can think of who would bother are Boston Bruins fans but they would just hit Montreal.

Re:I remember our planning in DND

[Capn_Sternn]

Furthermore, there were more than just two bunkers, in fact there were seven. The one in Alberta was sold to a farmer, and was subsequently repurchased at a much higher price by the government when they realised that he was going to resell it to a chapter of the Hell Angels.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diefenbunker

Re:I remember our planning in DND

[greedom]

It's human nature to survive. Hell it's the nature of all living things. Even if you know it's futile you'll do anything to get even just a few more hours of life even if that life was miserable after a nuclear fallout.

Re:I remember our planning in DND

[Capn_Sternn]

Seems to be you're trying to make yourself into something you're not: interesting.

The best way to not volunteer information would have been to never post in the first place, especially if you didn't want the inaccuracies in your posts pointed out.

Cheers

Re:I remember our planning in DND

[WillAffleckUW]

don't work. missile defense (for a brief part I worked in Boeing Military side) is pretty much a waste of time and money.

interception of long range missiles is not a solution.

Re:I remember our planning in DND

[gstoddart]

I'm just amazed that they thought someone would bother nuking Canada. The only people I can think of who would bother are Boston Bruins fans but they would just hit Montreal.

And, even the Bruins fans will recall the Christmas trees we've been sending down for the last 90 years in gratitude for help after the Halifax Explosion.. There's actually a fairly strong bond between Atlantic Canada and the New England states -- a lot of Empire Loyalists left that area to come to Canada after the Civil war. Some of my ancestors included.

But, on a more serious note, Halifax is a sheltered, deep harbour with a Navy base and an air base. Growing up there during the last bits of the cold war, we were all aware of the fact that we were on the list. It was kind of a depressing fact when we were kids and there was more saber rattling. :(

Cheers

Re:I remember our planning in DND

[WillAffleckUW]

I failed my humour roll and used the Golden Croissant of St-Georges instead.

Re:I remember our planning in DND

[CodeBuster]

Carl Sagan, in a televised debate with William F Buckley Jr following a showing of the 1983 television movie The Day After , discussed the concept of nuclear winter and compared the arms race to "two sworn enemies standing waist-deep in gasoline, one with three matches and the other with five". In fact, the only really sensible response to the whole affair was to live near a primary target so that one would be spared the horror of survival (i.e. instant and relatively painless death). It is interesting to note that many people in the public perceive the Cold War as being behind us when in fact, many of the weapons systems that menaced mankind during those years were never taken off line and remain operational to this day.

Re:I remember our planning in DND

[Jardine]

a lot of Empire Loyalists left that area to come to Canada after the Civil war. Some of my ancestors included.

Were they hiding in the time between the Revolutionary war and the Civil war?

Re:I remember our planning in DND

[Golddess]

Just because they understand it was a joke, that doesn't mean they can't still post what DND actually stands for in this context (although I suppose it would have helped for them to mention they knew it was a joke).

I for one am grateful that they posted what it stood for, for I would not have known otherwise.

It's Nova Scotia

[barberousse]

Not Novia Scotia.

Re:It's Nova Scotia

[WillAffleckUW]

I thought it was Nouvelle Ecosse ...

Then why Canada?

[suso]

If they are worried about the USA Patriot Act, then why Cananda?

I recently returned from Mexico to the US and there was some policy they stated saying if you are a US or Canadian citizen, you don't have to fill out an I-94. Ok, I didn't know they were the same country?

Re:Then why Canada?

[ducomputergeek]

My thoughts exactly. Doesn't that just mean the NSA then intercepts data via the traditional satellites, listening posts, and cable taps? After all, one of their original mandates is collecting foreign intelligence. They don't need the Patriot Act for that...it's their jobs.

Re:Then why Canada?

[JCSoRocks]

The real question is what is Canada doing with nuclear bunkers? Like anyone's going to bother bombing them. :P

Re:Then why Canada?

[idontgno]

You're assuming that the Russkies are good shots.

Hell, I worked for the U.S. Air Force, and I wouldn't assume WE were good shots.

If you're living on an extended patch of ground between two nuclear adversaries, you'd have to be pretty cavalier about living to not have some kind of protection against "short rounds".

Re:Then why Canada?

[mewsenews]

Canadians crossing the border into the United States are almost always covered by alternate legislation than the Rest of The World. Since I was a child the only identification a Canadian needed was a birth certificate. Since 9/11 the Americans have been trying to require passports for land crossings but it keeps being pushed back, although it is required for air travel by Canadians into the USA now.

I didn't know they were the same country?

No, just good friends.

Re:Then why Canada?

[MarkRose]

The real question is what is Canada doing with nuclear bunkers? Like anyone's going to bother bombing them. :P

You're catching on. These buildings actually have a different primary purpose. They're designed like bunkers so no one could devine their real reason for existence: they're some of the few places in Canada where one can seek refuge from Céline Dion.

Barbarians at the gate!

[squoozer]

I hope they realize that no amount of thick doors and walls or even burying the whole thing underground is going to stop 99.99999% of the attacks on this place, assuming of course that they actually intend to connect it to the Internet. While this is pretty cool I can't really see the point in it. The facility won't be easy to fit cooling, power and connectivity too and because it's underground there is a significant and on going risk of flooding. I would have thought a purpose built above ground facility with soild 5m razor wire topped walls and lots of hungry dogs would have been better.

Re:Barbarians at the gate!

[ChrisA90278]

But this bunker was built to house a government. It has power, backup power and a backup for the backup power and all kinds of good redundant data connectivity. I've not seen this bunker but the few I've seen are designed to be very robust with multiple backups for everything and then if all else fails there are water, food, tools, parts and equipment stored in closets distributed throughout the facility. Don't assume it's a hole in the ground with just bare concrete walls

a bit spendy?

[girlintraining]

I propose a different plan: Encrypt and decentralize. It's cheaper, you can put your servers most anywhere, and they'll survive anything short of global thermonuclear warfare. But of course, if that does happen... Chances are good you won't care. At least, not for long. It's great to have datacenters that can survive a nuclear fallout, but machines surviving has never been the problem... it's the people that generally don't make it. And good luck running your business without them.

Thebunker.net data center in UK

[billstewart]

A decade or so ago, thebunker.net bought a UK nuclear bunker to set up a data center. It had good connectivity to power grids, generators, and cheap cooling because it was underground. It also sounded cool, and they were able to sell to lots of London banks concerned about natural disasters and civil disturbances. They were able to get it relatively cheaply, and the savings in cooling costs were really valuable financially during years when other data centers were having trouble making money; I think they've acquired a second bunker by now.

Patriot Act?

[stimuli_ii]

I hope they realize that a significant amount of Internet traffic goes through the States. I doubt they could 100% guarantee protection from the Patriot Act.

Re:what

[$RANDOMLUSER]

Srsly. I'm in yer bunkr, mispeling yer wurds.

Nukes-shmukes

[Godji]

Meh, who needs protection from nukes anyway? As long as all the data is safe, the Slashdot crowd will never notice the world has ended, unless they hit Google.

Re:from the canada-has-nukes? dept...?

[courteaudotbiz]

You're right, Canada does not possess any weapons of mass destruction... We're just good friends with our neighbors who possess a shitload of nukes.

Always good to have a nuclear bunker if your neighbor even has a slight chance to be part of a nuclear conflict.

Reading the link posted in this comment, I just learned that a secret Canada-US agreement has been signed in my city, Quebec.

Bahnhof in Sweden already did this

[mikael_j]

Swedish ISP Bahnhof already did this. Still cool though...

/Mikael

I worked in one of these bunkers for 6 months

[Phrogman]

when I was in the Reserves (Communications) I worked down in one of these facilities in Penhold Alberta. Bank vault style doors, a complete hospital, TV studio, a massive number of Government offices etc (If there is a nuclear war going on, why exactly do we need offices for the Unemployment Department?), all built under many feet of steel and concrete buried 30 ft underground and standing on massive springs to reduce shock. They were pretty impressive. They are several stories tall inside and no doubt about as secure a facility as you could ever want to store your servers in :)

Test It Before Buying It

[Doc Ruby]

I used to work in a converted "nuke-proof" bunker right outside Toronto that Northern Telecom operated as a datacenter. Buried underground and under thousands of tons of concrete. Through a series of Get Smart type security/airlocks. Down the hatch, among the servers, I used to feel more secure than anywhere else I'd ever been.

Until my pager went off.

There's no way that bunker was "nuke proof", if puny radio signals for a pager could get through. And no, they didn't have a repeater or anything - in fact, when I asked if my pager would work down there, they laughed, and told me no, but I'd have to leave mine topside if I had one (or a cell phone, though those weren't common yet) because there wasn't supposed to be any equipment operating in that range down there (even just receiving), as part of the "shielding protocol".

Clearly, the prohibition of them was just a way to hide the fact that they'd work, showing the bunker was "leaky". And then, to prove it, I brought my cellphone down there to use whenever I wanted, despite their protocols.

Seriously?

[DarthVain]

My first though as a Canadian was "We have a nuke-resistant bunker?"

My second thought as a Nova Scotian was "WTF? Pass me a Keiths!"

Seriously though, how bizarre. Kinda surprised that we had any (outside of the women packed mine shafts of Carlton U. Everyone knows its not a real university anyway).

Though I suppose if I were going to waste a nuke on Canada I would probably hit Vancouver and Halifax (and maybe Ottawa because of the dirty politicians, and perhaps Toronto, well just because its Toronto, smug bastards...) due to the ports and the possibility the USA using them.

So the bunker is probably in Halifax.

Then again I already have a nuke-resistant bunker in Nova Scotia. Its called my parents place who I will be visiting for Christmas in Kentville. No one in there right mind is going to hit Kentville.

Alternative punchline would be any house in Sask. except maybe Moosejaw (Air force base with jets and everything!).

That said, I think its cool that they are turning it into an IT data center. Fun times.

South America

[cenc]

I run a biz in South America, so I keep a mirror server in a data center in North America and my office in Southern Chile. Mostly for fear that someone will do something dumb and cut a cable in Central America, but also just for long-term security.

If you want true protection, distribute out to as many places in the World as possible. No one is going to Nuke the Patagonia for example.