Secret Service Runs At "Six Sixes" Availability 248
PCM2 writes "ABC News is reporting that the US Secret Service is in dire need of server upgrades. 'Currently, 42 mission-oriented applications run on a 1980s IBM mainframe with a 68 percent performance reliability rating,' says one leaked memo. That finding was the result of an NSA study commissioned by the Secret Service to evaluate the severity of their computer problems. Curiously, upgrades to the Service's computers are being championed by Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who says he's had 'concern for a while' about the issue."
Re:Here's An Idea ... (Score:3, Insightful)
I could point out that the cost of replacing this mainframe would mostly involve rewriting its applications to run on modern hardware. But then you'd be deprived of your joke, even if it is a pretty lame one.
Re:Upgrade... (Score:3, Insightful)
As soon as they fill out all of the paperwork, and find a way to blame the downtime on someone with we don't like.
Color me skeptical (Score:5, Insightful)
There's something about this whole thing that simply doesn't ring true. I believe parts, I believe they have a 1980's main frame, I believe it's not terribly reliable but something about the whole: leaked memo according to Joe Leiberman, we need more money, they won't give us more money' spiel sounds off. I suspect they have huge chunks of computing that's much newer and reliable, I'd be shocked if that IBM serves any significant purpose.
If nothing else I predict a large percentage of the umpteen million dollar final cost somehow going to Connecticut, but I'm probably just incredibly jaded.
Re:1980's mainframe? (Score:3, Insightful)
If the only thing keeping them from upgrading was a "small consumer grade server" I'm pretty sure the NSA would have made one fall off the back of a truck and this would no longer be a problem.
The problem is more likely that the software running on the server is proprietary and closed-source, making upgrades incredibly expensive. Far more expensive than the incremental upgrades that the system should have seen in the 20+ years that it's been in production.
Re:1980's mainframe? (Score:4, Insightful)
Ah. So you will just port all their data from their old proprietary database system to a new proprietary database. Piece of cake.
Re:Upgrade... (Score:3, Insightful)
Connecticut already gets billions (Score:3, Insightful)
If nothing else I predict a large percentage of the umpteen million dollar final cost somehow going to Connecticut, but I'm probably just incredibly jaded.
What's a few million? Connecticut is one of the top haulers, thanks to Electric Boat, where many nuclear subs (and a number of other ships) are made.
Every time the Pentagon tries to cut its budget, congrescritters get all up in arms about "jobs", so the Pentagon has all these useless projects (congress forces the programs it wants.) It's the primary reason US military spending has risen so sharply over the years.
90%? (Score:3, Insightful)
$187 million? (Score:5, Insightful)
They're claiming it will cost $187 million to replace. Bullshit. If the hardware is more than 15 years old, which it sounds like it is, it's impossible to conceive how they could spend more than $100k on hardware to replace it and still give 100x the performance and capacity. OK, let's splurge - spend 5 million on hardware.
These jackoffs would have us believe it's going to cost $180 million to replace some bullshit law enforcement database software that's 20 years old? Complete bullshit. Instead of the mythical $500 government hammer, now we've got the $180 million dollar software package that should cost
That's normal. (Score:3, Insightful)
The media uses stock photos whenever they don't have real photos of something. This is normal. I've even seen stock photos of Bumble Bee tuna used in contamination stories for another brand. (I forget which one.) Talk about misleading...
"Curiously"? (Score:5, Insightful)
"Curiously, upgrades to the Service's computers are being championed by Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut "
What's curious about that? It's not like the guy is a Luddite or something. The Secret Service, at the forefront of protecting POTUS, is a national security issue, and Lieberman is very involved in those issues. If the author threw that in because he doesn't like Lieberman's politics, then that's kind of lame. One would think that issues like keeping government IT systems up to date would transcend party politics.
Re:1980's mainframe? (Score:4, Insightful)
It wasn't Cobol that was the problem but human limitations.
More likely it was the project itself, that is, replacing a pointlessly complicated system with an updated version of the same. If they sat down and looked at the real core requirements, instead of recoding a monster, they could have designed a simpler and better system for a fraction of the cost. I bet there were huge teams of designers and project managers who got rich off of each of those attempts.
Re:Obama = Hitler (Score:2, Insightful)
Obama - breathes oxygen
Hitler - breathed oxygen
Obama - was born on Earth
Hitler - was born on Earth
Obama - will die on Earth
Hitler - died on Earth
Obama - drinks water
Hitler - drank water
Obama - has an 'a' in his first name
Hitler - had an 'a' in his first name
Obama - blood is red
Hitler - blood was red
And you know people will try to spin it that all of the above could be said of a large number of people or that we're twisting our facts to suit a point we want to make.....