Canadian Nuke Bunker To Be Converted Into Data Fortress

miller60 writes "A hosting firm has purchased a nuke-resistant bunker in Novia Scotia, and plans to convert it into a data fortress for financial firms. Bastionhost hopes to attract European financial firms wary of housing sensitive data in the US due to the USA Patriot Act. The facility is one of a series of 'Diefenbunkers' built during the tenure of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker to keep the Canadian government running in the event of a nuclear attack. While not all of these underground data bunker projects work out, a similar nuke-proof bunker in Stockholm, Sweden was recently converted into a stylish high-tech data lair for an ISP."

Then why Canada?

[suso]

If they are worried about the USA Patriot Act, then why Cananda?

I recently returned from Mexico to the US and there was some policy they stated saying if you are a US or Canadian citizen, you don't have to fill out an I-94. Ok, I didn't know they were the same country?

Re:Then why Canada?

[ducomputergeek]

My thoughts exactly. Doesn't that just mean the NSA then intercepts data via the traditional satellites, listening posts, and cable taps? After all, one of their original mandates is collecting foreign intelligence. They don't need the Patriot Act for that...it's their jobs.

Thebunker.net data center in UK

[billstewart]

A decade or so ago, thebunker.net bought a UK nuclear bunker to set up a data center. It had good connectivity to power grids, generators, and cheap cooling because it was underground. It also sounded cool, and they were able to sell to lots of London banks concerned about natural disasters and civil disturbances. They were able to get it relatively cheaply, and the savings in cooling costs were really valuable financially during years when other data centers were having trouble making money; I think they've acquired a second bunker by now.

Patriot Act?

[stimuli_ii]

I hope they realize that a significant amount of Internet traffic goes through the States. I doubt they could 100% guarantee protection from the Patriot Act.

Re:I remember our planning in DND

[Capn_Sternn]

Furthermore, there were more than just two bunkers, in fact there were seven. The one in Alberta was sold to a farmer, and was subsequently repurchased at a much higher price by the government when they realised that he was going to resell it to a chapter of the Hell Angels.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diefenbunker

Bahnhof in Sweden already did this

[mikael_j]

Swedish ISP Bahnhof [bahnhof.se] already did this [bahnhof.se]. Still cool though...

/Mikael

I worked in one of these bunkers for 6 months

[Phrogman]

when I was in the Reserves (Communications) I worked down in one of these facilities in Penhold Alberta. Bank vault style doors, a complete hospital, TV studio, a massive number of Government offices etc (If there is a nuclear war going on, why exactly do we need offices for the Unemployment Department?), all built under many feet of steel and concrete buried 30 ft underground and standing on massive springs to reduce shock. They were pretty impressive. They are several stories tall inside and no doubt about as secure a facility as you could ever want to store your servers in :)

Re:I remember our planning in DND

[WillAffleckUW]

don't work. missile defense (for a brief part I worked in Boeing Military side) is pretty much a waste of time and money.

interception of long range missiles is not a solution.

Test It Before Buying It

[Doc Ruby]

I used to work in a converted "nuke-proof" bunker right outside Toronto that Northern Telecom operated as a datacenter. Buried underground and under thousands of tons of concrete. Through a series of Get Smart type security/airlocks. Down the hatch, among the servers, I used to feel more secure than anywhere else I'd ever been.

Until my pager went off.

There's no way that bunker was "nuke proof", if puny radio signals for a pager could get through. And no, they didn't have a repeater or anything - in fact, when I asked if my pager would work down there, they laughed, and told me no, but I'd have to leave mine topside if I had one (or a cell phone, though those weren't common yet) because there wasn't supposed to be any equipment operating in that range down there (even just receiving), as part of the "shielding protocol".

Clearly, the prohibition of them was just a way to hide the fact that they'd work, showing the bunker was "leaky". And then, to prove it, I brought my cellphone down there to use whenever I wanted, despite their protocols.

South America

[cenc]

I run a biz in South America, so I keep a mirror server in a data center in North America and my office in Southern Chile. Mostly for fear that someone will do something dumb and cut a cable in Central America, but also just for long-term security.

If you want true protection, distribute out to as many places in the World as possible. No one is going to Nuke the Patagonia for example.

Re:I remember our planning in DND

[CodeBuster]

Carl Sagan [wikipedia.org], in a televised debate with William F Buckley Jr [wikipedia.org] following a showing of the 1983 television movie The Day After [wikipedia.org], discussed the concept of nuclear winter and compared the arms race to "two sworn enemies standing waist-deep in gasoline, one with three matches and the other with five". In fact, the only really sensible response to the whole affair was to live near a primary target so that one would be spared the horror of survival (i.e. instant and relatively painless death). It is interesting to note that many people in the public perceive the Cold War as being behind us when in fact, many of the weapons systems that menaced mankind during those years were never taken off line and remain operational to this day.