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US Gov't To Close 137 Data Centers In 2011, More By 2015

Posted by timothy on from the let-a-thousand-flowers-bloom dept.

1sockchuck writes "The US government has closed 39 data centers this year, and expects to shut down 98 more by the end of 2011, federal CIO Vivek Kundra said Wednesday. The 137 closures are a step towards the long-term goal of consolidating 800 of the government's 2,094 data centers by 2015. Government agencies have identified 100 email systems and 950,000 mailboxes to migrate to a cloud computing model as part of Kundra's 'Cloud First' initiative."

11 of 49 comments (clear)

  1. Eggs by MrEricSir · · Score: 2

    Put all your eggs in one basket -- what could possibly go wrong?

    --
    There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
    1. Re:Eggs by Random2 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      So, we don't want the government spending exorbitant amounts of money, but when they start to make changes we criticize them? While I agree the cloud isn't a perfect place to store stuff, migrating all the low-level and unclassified government documents to a single area seems like a frugal move.

      Anyways, even if you only read the summary (forget TFA), they're reducing to about 1200 data centers instead of 2k, leaving plenty of places to back-up or spread data.
      Hardly 'one basket'. Much more like a Beowulf cluster.

      --
      "Our goal each year should be to increase the number of goals we set for ourselves!"
    2. Re:Eggs by JoeCommodore · · Score: 2

      Well at the moment there are each their own "one baskets" so putting them into one place may magnify the collective risk, it still does not change the situation. They should consolidate and distribute - i.e. move five data centers into two, and make those two redundant.

      --
      "Enjoy what you're doing! If it becomes drudgery, you're doing it wrong!" - Jim Butterfield
    3. Re:Eggs by Bloopie · · Score: 4, Insightful

      So, we don't want the government spending exorbitant amounts of money, but when they start to make changes we criticize them?

      You must be new here.

      If the U.S. Government suddenly announced it was eliminating 10,000 unnecessary bureaucratic jobs, Slashdotters would complain about how much of our tax money it was going to cost to do that.

    4. Re:Eggs by sconeu · · Score: 2

      and make those two redundant.

      Funny thing. When my job was "made redundant", I got laid off...

      Amazing how the same phrase means two different things.

      --
      General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
    5. Re:Eggs by jpapon · · Score: 2

      No offense, but those phrases mean the same thing. It's just that redundancy generally isn't good for employees (exceptions: pilots, doctors/nurses, nuclear plant operators), but is laudable in data storage.

      --
      -- Let us endeavor so to live that when we pass even the undertaker shall be sorry. -- M. Twain
    6. Re:Eggs by FatdogHaiku · · Score: 4, Funny

      This is a great idea! I always thought the "cloud" thing was lame anyways, so lets just start calling it "The Basket". Once the IT people start using it, middle management will pick up on it just to sound like they are in the know.

      Boss to IT guy:
      How is the migration of all our services to the cloud going?
      IT guy:
      We don't call it that anymore sir, bad connotations from the Amazon episode.
      Boss:
      Well what do we call it now?
      IT guy:
      Sir, we now refer to it as "The Basket".
      Boss:
      Because all of our eggs are in it?
      IT guy:
      Oh no sir, because it is a large, self supporting structure of many interwoven members.
      Boss:
      Oh, OK. Please make sure marketing is aware of the new terminology, we would not want to look out of date!
      IT guy:
      Yes sir, just as soon as I finish with our eggs...

      --
      You have the right to remain sentient. If you give up the right to remain sentient, you will be elected to public office
  2. summary of problems by Hazel+Bergeron · · Score: 2

    Technocracy: centralisation of government data with easy cross-referencing is harmless.

    False premise: clouds increase reliability.

    Maxim: one big basket comfortably holds all eggs.

    Actual purpose of this exercise: corporate welfare for systems providers.

  3. Re:used servers for sale where? by couchslug · · Score: 2

    Govliquidation would auction off any surplused equipment online after any other interested agencies screened it.

    If you like pallets of old servers with no hard disks, register and monitor the auctions. I find bidders tend to overpay on many items and it's often worse than Ebay. If you are buying something unusual, or something heavy you have the gear to move, you can do well.

    --
    "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
  4. Hope they don't outsource to Northrop Grumman... by lax-goalie · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...because the latest in Virginia's IT outsourcing saga is that the State Police are having severe access problems to servers hosted by NG.

    Outsourcing to these guys has been a disaster for the Commonwealth. And it happened on Vivek Kundra's watch.

  5. does vivek know wtf he's doing? by jsepeta · · Score: 3, Informative

    I think NOT.
    http://community.dice.com/t5/Current-Events/US-CIO-Vivek-Kundra-at-best-a-lightweight-at-worst-a-fraud/td-p/216786

    he's also not to be trusted.
    http://gawker.com/#!5174642/obamas-thieving-geek-guilty-of-bad-taste

    --
    Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.