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NSA To Build 20-Acre Data Center In Utah

Posted by samzenpus on from the data-on-the-horizon dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "The Salt Lake City Tribune reports that the National Security Agency will be building a one million square foot data center at Utah's Camp Williams. The NSA's heavily automated computerized operations have for years been based at Fort Meade, Maryland, but the agency began looking to decentralize its efforts following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and accelerated their search after the Baltimore Sun reported that the NSA — Baltimore Gas & Electric's biggest customer — had maxed out the local grid and could not bring online several supercomputers it needed to expand its operations. The agency got a taste of the potential for trouble January 24, 2000, when an information overload, rather than a power shortage, caused the NSA's first-ever network crash, taking the agency 3 1/2 days to resume operations. The new data center in Utah will require at least 65 megawatts of power — about the same amount used by every home in Salt Lake City — so a separate power substation will have to be built at Camp Williams to sustain that demand. 'They were looking at secure sites, where there could be a natural nexus between organizations and where space was available,' says Col. Scott Olson, the Utah National Guard's legislative liaison. NSA officials, who have a long-standing relationship with Utah based on the state Guard's unique linguist units, approached state officials about finding land in the state on which to build an additional data center. 'The stars just kind of came into alignment. We could provide them everything they need.'"

16 of 226 comments (clear)

  1. Re:But will it run Linux? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    No. What you are used to refer to as the Storm botnet, is really just NSA Maryland running on Windows machines.

  2. So... by captainpanic · · Score: 4, Funny

    The secret service builds a datacenter and announces that in mainstream media?

    It will be a very large data center.
    It will be important.
    It will be secret.
    And it will be located at Utah's Camp Williams.

    That's very amicable to other secret services. Saves them some searching. :D

    1. Re:So... by TheRaven64 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Finding a 20-acre facility with satellite imaging is not hard. Finding a building site that is goign to turn in to a 20-acre facility is pretty trivial even without satellite imaging.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    2. Re:So... by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Funny

      "Surveillance only tells us that they don't store the data on the rooftop"

      (ok, it's from a rather lame Simpsons episode, but I'm sure some will get the reference)

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re:So... by camperdave · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well, maybe the true secret datacenter is built somewhere else. The best way to prevent you from searching for it is when you believe you already know where it is.

      Well yes, obviously it's a decoy. The NSA knows that we would immediately jump to the conclusion that this is a decoy, and start looking elsewhere. In fact, they're counting on it. They want us looking elsewhere so that they can install their top secret datacentre hardware in Utah.

      Except... why make it so conspicuously obvious. They make a show about building this datacentre, so we would look elsewhere. We know that they want us to look anywhere but their decoy, so we look at the decoy. While we're busy looking at the decoy, they build elsewhere. Clever.

      However, they've got to know that there's enough people to look at both the new datacentre and all the other sites. Something else is going on. They've got scurrying around like ants, looking for this "true" datacentre. We're focused on the ground. We're focused on the NSA. This isn't about NSA datacentres. This is about CIA satellites.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    4. Re:So... by elrous0 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Announcing that they have a backup data center for all our phone calls and emails is their way of saying "Sure, we're totalitarians--but at least we're COMPETENT totalitarians."

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  3. Well, now you know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Well, now you know where your can find those emails you accidentally deleted or forgot to backup. Safely in the hands of god, err, the NSA.

  4. Sixty five megawatts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    65 megawatts of power -- about the same amount used by every home in Salt Lake City

    Those must be some big houses. I wonder how much they all use in total!

    1. Re:Sixty five megawatts by arb+phd+slp · · Score: 2, Funny

      There's a Mormon joke there somewhere.

      They have to store a year's supply of extra electricity in their basement.
      How's that?

      --
      There's a perfect xkcd for my sig but I'm too lazy to look it up. sudo someone go find it.
    2. Re:Sixty five megawatts by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 4, Funny

      A Catholic priest went into a barber shop for a haircut. When he was finished, the barber refused to take payment saying, "You are a man of the cloth... this is a free service that I offer to you." The Priest thanked the barber and went on his way. The next morning the barber found seven fishes and seven loaves of bread on his doorstep in gratitude from the priest.

      The next week, a Jewish Rabbi went into the same shop for a cut. Again the barber refused payment saying, "You are a man of God... this is a free service that I offer to you." The next morning the barber found a fitting gift from the Rabbi.

      The following week, two LDS Missionaries went into the shop for haircuts. Again, the barber refused payment saying, "You work in the service of God... this is a free service that I offer to you." The next morning the barber arrived to find 12 LDS Missionaries on his doorstep.

      --
      My blog
  5. Sounds like a new movie brewing... by Enuratique · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... The Hills Have Ears

    --
    A black hole is where God divided by 0
  6. Re:In fact, by egcagrac0 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Good idea!

    Travelling collections?

    I can't believe that the National Parks System hasn't already done this. They're all clustered around the east coast - we really need to get some here in the midwest.

  7. Well that should cement Utah's status... by Abroun · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...as the country's largest per-capita paid consumer of internet pr0n ( http://people.hbs.edu/bedelman/papers/redlightstates.pdf )

  8. Re:American Money, American Land, American Calls by Jurily · · Score: 2, Funny

    So, now we have an American agency, operating within America, and recording American telephone conversations without oversight of law.

    And no manpower to do anything useful with it.

  9. Re:Nice work, Senator Hatch. by arndawg · · Score: 2, Funny

    No. The NSA uses only the intersect. No Novell deals here.

  10. US Government Hypocrisy by Rocketship+Underpant · · Score: 2, Funny

    The hypocrisy of the US government never ceases to amaze. Here Obama has been going about cutting back on home energy use, carbon credits, etc. And at the same time, he's going to open a new government facility that uses as much electricity as all of Salt Lake City?

    --
    He who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.