Google's Fiber Lines Under Fire, Literally
Google's Fiber Lines Under Fire, Literally
Posted 09/22/2010 at 2:41pm
| by Ryan Whitwam
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If you were to take a stroll along the Columbia river in Oregon. You might find the quaint city of Dalles. In Dalles, is a sizable Google data center. All that data needs some fat pipes to flow through, so The Big G installed dedicated fiber lines to the facility. The only problem is that the hanging fiber lines make tempting targets for bored hunters. For the last few years, Google has been plagued by outages caused by hunters opening fire at the lines each winter.
Whenever these lines are damaged, Google technicians have to make their way into the wilderness to repair them. Some of these locations can be remote, requiring a Caterpillar tractor, or even a helicopter to reach if the weather is poor. On one occasion, some lines were shot down during a snowstorm. The repair crew had to cross-country ski for three days to get to the damage and repair it.
After realizing this was a losing battle, Google recently decided to build an underground channel for the fiber lines. Presumably, the hunter will leave the lines alone if the tantalizing fiber is hidden from their immediate view.
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whitneymr
September 23, 2010 at 11:46am
I don't buy it's legit hunters, sounds more likely it's some one with an axe to grind with Google.
compro01
September 24, 2010 at 2:50pm
I'd sooner bet on "idiot teenagers with rifles who have nothing better to do" than actual hunters or anyone with a google grudge.
mesiah
September 23, 2010 at 1:41am
They wouldn't be thinking it was all that funny if Google sent their own team of "hunters" to shoot out all those hillbillies cable right before the big Nascar race. Hell, google has enough money, they could pay to have the race blacked out in their area. How well would that go over? Just imagine a full page add in the sunday paper "Dear residents of Dalles, the next time someone takes aim at our fiber towers we will black out Nascar races in this area for a month. Thank you. -Google."
smurf351
September 22, 2010 at 10:50pm
Not everyone who goes out shooting is a "hunter". How many true hunters go out and shoot up their old computers instead of truning them into something cool or usefull. Maybe it's microsoft employees that have been paid by Bill himself to go out and "accidently" damage the competition's infrastructure. ;)
kd7kip
September 22, 2010 at 7:27pm
The city is called "The Dalles"-- note the definate article. I think "The Dalles" is French for The Rapids or some such thing.
titan8813
September 22, 2010 at 7:59pm
Also, a quant is something you wear. A city might be considered "quaint".
PCLinuxguy
September 22, 2010 at 7:11pm
Ok well go to the local government and put your foot down: tell those dumb*** 'hunters' to knock that crap off or else be slapped with a few hundred thousand dollar fines and jail time.
Zachary K.
September 22, 2010 at 5:17pm
"well lookie there billy bob, its one of thoes inter-tubes, for which the the porn goes in. i betcha my pound of deer jerky you can't hit it"
oh sure, the hillbillies have to break the nerds toys.
Ashton2091
September 22, 2010 at 2:50pm
lmao, cross-country ski. pure dedication. one of the funniest articles in a long time. lol
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