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Microsoft Is Working On a Cloud Operating System For the US Government
SmartAboutThings writes "It seems that Microsoft is relying even more on the opportunities provided by the cloud technology. The Redmond behemoth is preparing to come up with a cloud operating system that is specially meant for government purposes. Government agencies already use two of Microsoft's basic cloud products: Windows Azure and Windows Server. But now it seems that Microsoft is working on a modified version of its somewhat new Cloud OS that could bear the name 'Fairfax.' Compared to Windows Azure, the 'Fairfax' cloud operating system would provide enhanced security, relying on physical servers on site at government locations. Given that CEO Steve Ballmer is striving to make Microsoft much more than a powerful software giant, such a project makes sense, especially because it would help in their lobby activities."
you mean like unix was a "cloud" OS and you could connect via dumb terminals to it?
every good joke has a punchline.
... and when the single, centralized mega-host of *every* government system gets compromised...?
It will connect to 365 so that everyone can do power points and spreadsheets. Outlook. com for mail, and not much more.
I'm sorry, I'm to tired to be witty at the moment so this message will have to do.
Of course not. Server software is not the cloud, duh! They are just the exact same things but different names. Don't tell the customer though.
A fairer way of rephrasing the last line might be "such a project WOULD make EVEN MORE sense IF it helped them in their lobby activities." The disadvantage being that it begs the question "How does selling software or any products to the government help in lobby activities?"
US will start to replace rones with chairs.
" if they attempt to defect to another nation"
The primary concern of the US government seems to be that NSA employees will defect to the American public. Snowden has been charged with espionage for spying on our behalf, so I think we're officially the enemy.
I don't get it. How do they call it "in the cloud" if the servers are located on-site? Isn't that what we started with decades ago –– a server and dumb terminals (er, excuse me, a thin client)? And storage is so cheap these days!
Yes, it's safer to have everything physically in-house (or securely co-located). But, what I can't fathom is how any of the purchasing-department types and manager-types fall for this "new" setup that offers no advantages. It's just handcuffing your company to that one vendor.
/CSB: At a former company, upper management studied options for getting off of Lotus Notes, the biggest heap of crap I've ever seen. The conclusion of their expensive study was that, "We can't afford to get off of Lotus Notes. The change-over would be too expensive."
I think IBM got wind of the study, and raised their price even more for the next renewal.
It sure sounds like Microsoft wants to be like Big Blue, making their big bucks in consulting services. It seems to be working out okay for them, I'm not entirely sure Microsoft however can manage not to shoot themselves in the foot in trying it.
Well, no, although that is interesting.
It's "Cloud", as in cloudy thinking, I'm guessing. It's cloud in the sense that you aren't allowed to know what the government is doing. It's cloud in the sense that Microsoft is not doing well lately, and is desperate for an easy contract for expensive stuff, paid by taxpayers.
there was a document that went out from DoD about two months ago; a thin-client/zero-disk initiative architectural overview. DoD's (public) plan is to transition to a majority thin client IS (information system) inventory by 2020. the servers will be Enterprise assets (meaning, theatre-level) so those at different installations (on-the-ground administrators) will not have a choice. case in point, there are authorized security baselne configurations for redhat, centOS, and other *nixes. there used to be one for Mac, but it was discontinued (dunno why). even when Mac was legally usable on the DoD network, it and *nixes needed waivers and by-hand security configuration out the ass to be usable for any normal work. you dont have your email classification application (ones ive seen were windows-only outlook plugins), no group policy, no HBSS (at the time), etc. you had your choice of operating systems, but everyone used Windows.
i was very excited to read the DoD overview, we spend way too much money on what are basically the same computers over and over (no functional need to upgrade from the first 64bit core 2 duos we bought years ago aside from product end of life, but that can be worked out with the vendor if the DoD put some effort into it) except for the fact that we keep upgrading to the latest and greatest Windows and then shitting on it with banners, some inane (and some not) security crap, and local clients (HBSS, remote desktop, AV, SCCM, etc...). put a thin client on everyone's desk and instead of a team of soldiers endlessly patching windows vulns that SCCM didnt hit (likely the client shitting itself for no reason), you patch the master image and everyone is GTG. save money, save time (more money).
god i hope this isnt what theyre settling on for their "thin client"
Considering no foreign government, or business should trust Azure hosting, they need this service so the U.S. Government can pay for their damage to Microsoft.
Michael J. Ryan - tracker1.info
For fuck's sake, "cloud" is not a technology, it's the latest marketing scam to get everyone relinquish control of their devices and data to the modern equivalent of the mainframe.
Ron Swanson said it best: "Never half-ass two things:. Whole-ass one thing."
Of course US citizens are considered the enemy by the US government. That's been true since at least the 1930s, if not earlier.
The nice thing about this MS/Fed deal is that the need for people like Snowden will be greatly reduced. If their shiny new system is made by MS, any script-kiddie with Wireshark, Backtrack, etc will be able to pwn it.
I'm just not looking forward to all the additional v14gr4 and stock spam that will come from places like the FBI, NSA, DoJ, CIA, etc.
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
Compared to Windows Azure, "Fairfax" cloud operating system would provide enhanced security, relying on physical servers on site at government locations.
This tells me all I need to know about Microsoft's cloud server solutions. It needs enhanced security to be used by an organization that has data it wants to keep and control access to.
Well, at least Microsoft was good enough to recycle it, rather than simply bury it in a landfill.
Like you didn't see that coming.
As QWest found out the hard way, if you don't cooperate with NSA, you don't get government contracts.
Here is the background to the story.
So, MS gets lucrative government contracts. What does that say?
Indeed, but they are billed differently. Server software is a one-off purchase -> you buy it, you own it; cloud software is 'software as a service,' meaning that, among other things, you're renting the software, and paying a monthly bill to boot. Since most companies enjoy a three year upgrade cycle (they may skip upgrades, because they are unnecessary, or they save money), going with the cloud means they are potentially paying more. Now don't get me wrong, there are some benefits to the cloud: 1.) the software you are renting is, no doubt, automatically patched to the latest version (instead of spending 15 minutes once every several months waiting for a patch to install on your machine, this stuff is ready to go), 2.) your data is probably automatically backed up to the cloud (great for people who have no network backup solution, and have zero clue that even Windows has built-in backup functionality), 3.) it gets expensed differently, I'm sure, in terms of Accounting, so it may even not come out of your department's budget.
So instead of paying $500 / license, upgraded every three years or less, you can pay $40 / month. Granted, after a year and some months, you're totally being sandbagged, but if you allow for depreciation of currency, you might be getting an extra month 'for free.' And yes, if they (the cloud provider) raises rates during this time, you're totally boned -> all your data is on their servers, migrating it to another cloud is probably a painful process, etc.
I am John Hurt.
How is it possible that the First Post didn't reference Skynet?
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When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.