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US Navy Abandons Cloud and Data Center Plans In Favor of New Strategy
An anonymous reader writes: The U.S. Navy is not pleased with the progress it has made on data center consolidation and plans to change strategies. "Later this year, we will make an organizational change to our approach to data center consolidation. The Data Center and Application Optimization (DCAO) program office will move from under Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) headquarters to under Program Executive Office-Enterprise Information Systems (PEO-EIS) as a separate entity or program office," said John Zangardi, the Navy's deputy assistant secretary for command, control, computers, intelligence, information operations and space and acting chief information officer. The secretary added that over the past three years, the U.S. Department of the Navy had consolidated 290 IT systems and applications at 45 national sites.
I guess it must be, let the Wookie win.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
The U.S. Navy is not pleased with the progress it has made on data center consolidation and plans to change strategies.
I'm sure changing strategies will allow them to make up for the slow progress since the last change of strategy.
lucm, indeed.
... in awhile.
First law of computer security is physical security.
If the DoD loses physical control over their system then they cannot secure them. This looks like folly to me.
I think DoD consolidated data centers is entirely reasonable and I don't know why they're shifting from that. Being able to hug the server is enormously valuable. If something goes wrong with it, then someone has to hug it. And if it isn't one of your people then that means you're giving access to a third party.
Considering how interested foreign governments are to gain access to these systems, it would be a mistake to think the cloud system is going to protect anything. We've seen repeated examples of the cloud system failing in security.
The cloud system is generally more economical. But that is its only virtue.
As to this notion that the navy has to democratize its tech... the military is not a democracy. What is more BYOD schemes are inherently less secure. If the military doesn't take information security seriously, they are going to get their clocks cleaned.
Putin for example has shifted the FSB to use typewriters that print on PAPER to secure top secret documents because they don't trust their information security. For the DoD to think they can get away with BYOD schemes, commercial datacenters, and "Democratizing" their information security means they have NO clue the sort of resources being put into breaching their systems. This is madness. Ask the NSA if they'd do any of these things.
1. The NSA runs their OWN datacenter. They do not sublet.
2. The NSA doesn't democratize their information security. They dictate it. Within their organization, you comply or else.
3. The NSA would outright laugh at a BYOD scheme since they don't even let cell phones or mobile computers or thumb drives within many of their facilities much less let their staff run around with god knows what kind of machine that has access to their most critical systems for no reason.
This is dumb.
Look, different agencies should be responsible for whatever they understand. If I wanted to run a naval battle engagement, I'd put the Navy in charge of that. If I am trying to secure government computer systems, then I would put experts in that field in charge... give this to the NSA. They know how to breach a system so they know how to secure it.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
It makes me sad every time I read articles such as this. I feel the Navy has been adrift since morse code and torn tape relay were retired. Perhaps it is time for you to reconsider SPAWAR? I often wonder how they help defend the constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic. My last COTAR was obviously a spy for some foreign agency. Anyway... there are many examples of how to make big systems work and none of them are at SPAWAR. COTS can do this, other organizations do this. Why not you?
Are they insane? that BYOD better not be any where near any nuke launcher systems
No, I don't think Apple can sue.
The iTunes app store terms and conditions only says:
You also agree that you will not use these products for any purposes prohibited by United States law, including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture or production of nuclear, missiles, or chemical or biological weapons.
No development, no design, no manufacture, no production.
But no where does it say "launching". Launching should be fine.
Program Executive Office-ENterprise Information Systems (PEO-ENIS). You know, for those Southern folks.
It's not just you -- the article had a quote that makes it seems like there's an unknown sysadmin care bear:
I don't know about you, but we don't have our racks just standing their on their own ... they're in rows, so you'd need rather long arms to try to give anything a hug. Maybe the one on the end of the row, but that's still a four or five foot deep rack ... so no hugging if you're short without unracking the gear first.
Oh ... and I've learned to ignore the 'number of data centers consolidated', after it was declared that every wiring closet was a 'data center' in our agency (not DoD), and those were going to count against the 'must close (x%) of data centers'. We 'consolidated' by having two rooms next to each other, so that electrically and AC wise, they're the same room ... but for physical security and access control, it's two separate spaces.
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
Because of limited bandwidth to the cloud from undersea, MOOC students will still face the traditional question of "What am I gonna do in a submarine?"
The US Navy are the most intelligent people in all of the United States armed forces. If they tried to accomplish an important national goal, and didn't fully succeed, then they very well should be listened to.
These people are not slackers. They are the real deal. If they're having trouble, the "cloud" industry needs to listen to them.
Kriston
Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR, in other words "Space War") had a problem fulfilling The Next Generation Enterprise Network (NGEN) contract? I think the Navy Trekkies are in control of the acronym office!
A smart person in one field does not always or even often carry that intelligence and understanding to another field.
For instance, scientists are some of the most intelligent people in all of the United States. But I wouldn't trust the great majority of them to configure a home router securely let alone run off on a tax burning mission to consolidate IT infrastructure and chase down the gold medal in 'How To Do IT Wrong And Blame It On The Technology Instead Of Admit Perfectly Reasonable Ineptitude'.
I know quite a few people in the Navy, much respect to all of them, but to attribute their ability to take on a task of this magnitude (pop pop) based on their intelligence ranking among the armed forces in its entirety isn't exactly a high bar to begin with.
shouldn't the Navy be focused on The Wave? The Cloud is outside their jurisdiction
You also agree that you will not use these products for any purposes prohibited by United States law, including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture or production of nuclear, missiles, or chemical or biological weapons.
But no where does it say "launching". Launching should be fine.
I'm not sure you understand what "without limitation" means.
The Navy along with all the other defence forces form the core of major emergency services not just in war but also in national emergency. The Navy along with all the other defence forces need to be able to function upon a manual pencil and paper basis, so that when all else fails in the face of a major catastrophe, they can still function. That means distributed data systems with full manual backup of all essential command and communications structures.
Consolidating all command and communications data and system at one locations means the complete abandonment of manual structures, of pen and paper command and communications. This means that catastrophic failure becomes truly catastrophic and something that the country will not be able to recover from.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen