• Charles Bretana (unregistered)

    Unbelievable..

  • (cs)

    Amazing :-)

  • Mike5 (unregistered)

    Thid.

    And it's a classic...

  • facetious (unregistered)

    Sweet! I wonder where I can sign up to get myself a super-secret information bunker!!! :)

  • Warmfusion (unregistered) in reply to facetious

    Here:

    http://www.thebunker.net/

    :D its an old Ministry of defence nuke defence bunker, tis quite expensive, but i'm sure its worth it if ur expecting terrorist actions against your datacenter... o_O

  • Rolf (unregistered)

    Jeez now that's a very secure system... :P

  • anon (unregistered)

    Nice to see our tax dollars hard at work, spamming our inboxes.

  • finnn (unregistered)

    I've worked with a guy who'd kick you in the nuts for leaving that kind of a hole open... Or smack you with an extension cord for something less critical. I'm pretty sure that he's not mentally ill, though.

    CAPTCHA: "sanitarium", yes.

  • Patrick (unregistered)
    Not to be one to turn down money waved in his face, Jack agreed and headed down to CompUSA to build the best computer money could buy. And as it turned out, that was the Ultra Super Extreme 7000XL Deluxe Gamer setup minus the gaming video card. It had a four-disk RAID 0+1 array with screaming SATA drives, plenty of RAM, and lots of blinking neon lights, all which were visible through the cutout biohazard symbol on the side of the case.

    At my last stop at a little mom & pop computer store, the owner told me about somebody who had requested a similar setup for use as a server. Only this one did have the video card and a water cooling system (bonus points for stupiditiy I guess). I proceeded to ask the owner, "Why such a computer for a server?" To which he shrugged and said, "He said he wanted to overclock it for performance."

    I just wonder what goes through people's heads when they do such things?

  • aaron (unregistered)

    Not that this should be a surprise to anyone here, but I'm pretty sure this whole fiasco is taking place in Texas. The town name they mention, Conroe, is in TX... so if the datacenter isn't in Texas, it's damn close!

    captcha: Atari! yay!

  • craaazy (unregistered)

    With stories like this, you just know the site doesn't have any redundant connections to the net..

  • (cs)

    The servers they had in place were probably good enough since the only internet connection to the bunker was a dial-up line.

  • Bill (unregistered) in reply to aaron
    aaron:
    Not that this should be a surprise to anyone here, but I'm pretty sure this whole fiasco is taking place in Texas. The town name they mention, Conroe, is in TX... so if the datacenter isn't in Texas, it's damn close!

    captcha: Atari! yay!

    Nice, anonymous cheap shot. I guess because Texas has the market cornered on federal facilities. Nope, that can't be it. Oh, it's a Bush shot....

    Wow, way to really be clever. I haven't heard any of those stereotypes before. :s

  • freelancer (unregistered)

    I don't suppose anyone has the IPs to those servers? :P

  • (cs) in reply to aaron
    aaron:
    Not that this should be a surprise to anyone here, but I'm pretty sure this whole fiasco is taking place in Texas. The town name they mention, Conroe, is in TX... so if the datacenter isn't in Texas, it's damn close!

    captcha: Atari! yay!

    I live in Conroe, and can attest that it's about 45 miles north of Houston, plus, the fact is that I-45 does go right through the town. Man, I'd love to know where that datacenter is!

  • ContractorInLivingHell (unregistered)

    Sounds like the &^*=&ing FBI...

  • (cs) in reply to freelancer
    freelancer:
    I don't suppose anyone has the IPs to those servers? :P

    Router password: "admin".

  • Steve B (unregistered)

    "I know the security isn’t perfect, but this is an area we need to tread lightly on. The guy we’ve hired to maintain our servers has some mental issues and doesn’t respond well to criticism or working on Saturdays. I’d rather not upset him now, but I promise, we’ll get there soon."

    I used to work with a guy like that. One time he got upset for no reason and threw a keyboard at my head. They would have fired him but the bosses felt sorry for him since he was basically unemployable due to his mental state and the fact he hadn't had a haircut for several years

  • anontexan (unregistered)

    The whole forest, unpaved roads, etc. bit sounds very much like the Conroe that is just north of Houston (which has no small amount of tech activity, and yes no small amount of really stupid tech activity). Now I'm wondering where this bunker data center is if it is here in Texas and what they charge...

  • (cs) in reply to Steve B
    Steve B:
    "I know the security isn’t perfect, but this is an area we need to tread lightly on. The guy we’ve hired to maintain our servers has some mental issues and doesn’t respond well to criticism or working on Saturdays. I’d rather not upset him now, but I promise, we’ll get there soon."

    I used to work with a guy like that. One time he got upset for no reason and threw a keyboard at my head. They would have fired him but the bosses felt sorry for him since he was basically unemployable due to his mental state and the fact he hadn't had a haircut for several years

    Managers like that piss me off. They're spineless. If the guy is in a position to damage your company, then make a plan, backup your data and start changing passwords. If you're afraid that he'll swing at you when you fire him, then have someone from law enforcement standing next to you and escort them to their car (or don't be such a weenie and just take one for the team). If you're afraid he'll come back and hurt or kill you, then get a restraining order and buy a hand gun. It's simple really. It sounds to me like this guy doesn't want a confrontation. People like that shouldn't be managing.

  • IorDMux (unregistered)

    Ahem

    I'm in ur bunkerz, stealin' ur dataz.

    ...Sorry, I couldn't resist.

  • (cs)

    I bet it's these guys that is the colo provider: http://www.datatronicsinc.com/website_hosting.html

    They've got a 'remote location' and, well: "Access to the operations center is restricted to a minimal list of authorized personnel who have access to sensitive areas and equipment. Physical security to the data center is provided by 2 separate card readers, reinforced steel doors with combination coded entry locks AND a biometric hand scanner."

  • Lionstone (unregistered) in reply to anontexan

    Well, the story is embellished for effect, but "the bunker" does exist. It's not that remote, but it sure feels like it. They charge quite a bit, though. We looked at them when we were co-lo shopping, but there are much better deals in the Greenspoint area.

  • pdschmid (unregistered)

    There seems to be one commercial bunker data center in that area: http://blog.kir.com/archives/2006/10/have_we_got_a_b_1.asp http://www.westlin.com/

  • Rafael Larios (unregistered) in reply to ssprencel
    ssprencel:
    Managers like that piss me off. They're spineless. If the guy is in a position to damage your company, then make a plan, backup your data and start changing passwords. If you're afraid that he'll swing at you when you fire him, then have someone from law enforcement standing next to you and escort them to their car (or don't be such a weenie and just take one for the team). If you're afraid he'll come back and hurt or kill you, then get a restraining order and buy a hand gun. It's simple really. It sounds to me like this guy doesn't want a confrontation. People like that shouldn't be managing.

    o_0

    I don't know, but if that is sarcasm, it passed over my head around 3 kilometers high....

  • (cs)

    The Westlin DC is kind of a luxury outfit ... I saw the article on that, too. But it doesn't match the 'small parking lot, etc.') description -- the pagoda is VERY recognizeable.

  • SmashAndGrab (unregistered) in reply to ssprencel

    [quote user="ssprencel Router password: "admin".
    [/quote]

    Dang, I had better go and change my router passwords...

  • SmashAndGrab (unregistered) in reply to Lionstone
    Lionstone:
    Well, the story is embellished for effect, but "the bunker" does exist. It's not *that* remote, but it sure feels like it. They charge quite a bit, though. We looked at them when we were co-lo shopping, but there are much better deals in the Greenspoint area.

    There are also probably a lot more guns in the Greenspoint area.

  • my name is missing (unregistered)

    Seven figure contract? Where the hell did all the money go to?

    Oh yeah, government work...

  • facetious (unregistered) in reply to Rafael Larios
    Rafael Larios:
    ssprencel:
    Managers like that piss me off. They're spineless. If the guy is in a position to damage your company, then make a plan, backup your data and start changing passwords. If you're afraid that he'll swing at you when you fire him, then have someone from law enforcement standing next to you and escort them to their car (or don't be such a weenie and just take one for the team). If you're afraid he'll come back and hurt or kill you, then get a restraining order and buy a hand gun. It's simple really. It sounds to me like this guy doesn't want a confrontation. People like that shouldn't be managing.

    o_0

    I don't know, but if that is sarcasm, it passed over my head around 3 kilometers high....

    There's no sarcasm .. I'm pretty sure this guy is genuinely pissed off by managers like that. He's being a little facetious, perhaps, but definitely not sarcastic.

  • Scoldog (unregistered) in reply to SmashAndGrab

    Password: Joshua

    "Would you like to play a game?"

  • b0red (unregistered)

    Hmmm .... Secure bunker ... Texas.

    Could it be ... http://westlin.com?

  • (cs) in reply to facetious
    facetious:
    Rafael Larios:
    ssprencel:
    Managers like that piss me off. They're spineless. If the guy is in a position to damage your company, then make a plan, backup your data and start changing passwords. If you're afraid that he'll swing at you when you fire him, then have someone from law enforcement standing next to you and escort them to their car (or don't be such a weenie and just take one for the team). If you're afraid he'll come back and hurt or kill you, then get a restraining order and buy a hand gun. It's simple really. It sounds to me like this guy doesn't want a confrontation. People like that shouldn't be managing.

    o_0

    I don't know, but if that is sarcasm, it passed over my head around 3 kilometers high....

    There's no sarcasm .. I'm pretty sure this guy is genuinely pissed off by managers like that. He's being a little facetious, perhaps, but definitely not sarcastic.

    You're right, I'm not being sarcastic at all (facetious...definitely facetious).

    I have worked at a few companies before where they wouldn't fire people. Instead they would "make their job miserable so that they would quit". I always found this to be a real chicken-shit way of managing. What you would end up with is three or four people that were just lag. They wouldn't contribute anything meaningful to the project because they were disillusioned with the company and wouldn't try very hard. Nor were they really kept in the loop and able to contribute even if they wanted to because they didn't have the right information to make intelligent decisions. Yet they still went home with a paycheck!

    This guy in the story doesn't take critisism very well so I'll just let him 'F' everything up and pay him for it. That's really weak! That causes more work for Jack.

    There comes a point when you have to cut loose the detrimental team members for the better of the team and replace them with a new and weak member in the hopes that they will get better. The result 3 months down the road is (hopefully) that you have a better and stronger team. The results by not letting them go is the same old thing. Those 3 months will come regardless. When they get here do you want to have a better team?

  • VARCHAR3 (unregistered) in reply to b0red
    b0red:
    Hmmm .... Secure bunker ... Texas.

    Could it be ... http://westlin.com?

    blue text on brown background. OUch!

    CAPTCHA: ninjas (Exactly who I had in mind to protect my arse, uh, valuable co-lo resources)

  • Mike Benza (unregistered)

    I go to school in Houston, and have family in Huntsville, TX. I-45 goes through both, and Conroe is halfway in between. It's a decent sized town with a number of malls and an outlet center. It has Rte. 105 running through it (east-west). Montgomery, TX is west of Conroe about 15 miles on 105. Westlin Corp gives their address in Montgomery, TX, so I'd say this is a definite hit.

    • Mike
  • Reader X (unregistered)

    http://louminatti.blogspot.com/2006/10/chiang-kai-sheks-secret-underground.html

    captcha: yummy

  • null reference (unregistered) in reply to b0red
    b0red:
    Hmmm .... Secure bunker ... Texas.

    Could it be ... http://westlin.com?

    I love how they didn't bother to clean up any clutter to take pictures for their brochure ... classy.

    http://www.westlin.com/A%20Pictorial%20Tour.pdf

  • s (unregistered)

    not really cool to fire people because they are sick. mentally ILL. It is an illness that is not any different than cancer, pneumonia, whatever.

  • Glen (unregistered)

    Is it me or is this we are programmers and not sales people or entrepreneurs. You can't really blame a guy that can sell this to the government and has to rely on substandard staff...the wtf is everyone of us knows better but still takes the contract or paycheck....so think about that before we start touting principle....

    captcha.......who gives a wtf

  • Al (unregistered) in reply to null reference

    Wow, that place looks like a real piece of work. I notice also that they are filing for Chapter 11. I can't say I'm surprised.

  • Anonymous (unregistered)
  • cdb (unregistered) in reply to s

    Firing people just because they're ill isn't ok, but when they're illness causes them to throw a keyboard at someone's head then no problem.

    I'm looking at leaving my current job because upper management are too fucking afraid of confrontation to fire obviously incompetent members of staff who only hinder other people's work and cost the company money. Hell, they won't even fire people for flat out refusing to do their jobs.

  • aoshi (unregistered) in reply to s
    s:
    not really cool to fire people because they are sick. mentally ILL. It is an illness that is not any different than cancer, pneumonia, whatever.

    actually, no. being mentally ill usually means being useless at your job, especially when its about IT. youre paying people because they do some useful stuff for you, not for being sick or whatever. or at least it was the concept of "hiring employees" back then. i cant understand why cancer, pneumonia or whatever is an excuse for system being in such a mess. especially when its about 7 figure paychecks.

  • Badger (unregistered)

    http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&sll=30.395902,-95.6459&sspn=0.431169,0.6427&ie=UTF8&z=18&ll=30.376716,-95.669235&spn=0.003369,0.005021&t=h&om=1

    Nice view from above! Of course, you can't see the bunker ;)

    Captcha: bling, a good description of this bunker!

  • Rick Auricchio (unregistered)

    Westlin.com is at 30 deg 22 min 37.19sec N, 95deg 40min 12.10sec W

    30°22'36.81"N 95°40'12.70"W (assuming this displays well with degree symbols)

    See it on Google Earth. Them pagodas is easy to spot...

    captcha: cognac. Great place to store that and the Cabernet.

  • Hank Miller (unregistered)

    Some companies in France have taken the make life miserable until they quit approach, because the laws about firing someone in France mean you are best off not letting someone go. (Unless you an get them thrown in prison or something for what they did, and even then I'm not sure...) Labor laws in France make it very hard to make working conditions bad enough to make someone want to quit though.

  • wayne (unregistered)

    Umm... Club Drive? Are you sure that this isn't some counry club belonging to the holiday ressort (? Tennis court, bungalows, lake, some busses...) just north of it ;-)

  • jason (unregistered)
    Umm... Club Drive? Are you sure that this isn't some counry club belonging to the holiday ressort (? Tennis court, bungalows, lake, some busses...) just north of it ;-)

    Nope. Check out this pic of the bunker and you'll see the building on Club Drive has gotta be it.

    Besides, how many other buildings in Texas come with pagodas? :-D

  • (cs) in reply to s

    So, if someone goes BATSHIT INSANE and starts hurling stuff at people, you wouldn't fire them?

  • (cs) in reply to facetious

    This is one of my favorite tdwtfs. On that note, let me reply to this:

    facetious:
    Sweet! I wonder where I can sign up to get myself a super-secret information bunker!!! :)

    Yes, with an asterisk. You can buy missle silos that have been decommisioned and converted into housing. Google search for "silo house"

    They're a bit pricey, but it doesn't get any better than a huge underground silo for having a party. what's better? no heat or Air conditioning required. you might want an electric blanket. and just think, you can watercool your systems easily!

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