The Secret Service is Still Struggling With a Vintage 1980s IBM Mainframe
The Secret Service is Still Struggling With a Vintage 1980s IBM Mainframe
Posted 02/28/2010 at 3:36pm
| by Justin Kerr
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Are you worried Fermi is going to make your GeForce 8800 look a bit long in the tooth? Well just be glad you're not stuck trying to run Crysis on the Secret Service's mainframe featuring state of the art technology from the 1980's. A classified review of the aging computer system has revealed that the system is now only operational about 60 percent of the time, and frequently prevents them from accessing the master database of mission critical information and apps.
"We have here a premiere law enforcement organization in our country which is responsible for the security of the president and the vice president and other officials of our government, and they have to have better IT than they have," said Lieberman, who is chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee. Currently the NSA runs 42 mission-oriented applications on a 1980s IBM mainframe, and are hideously underpowered based on the agencies current requirements.
The price tag for updating the system is a mere $187 million, and far below the $33 million they currently have in the budget. If I were president, I would probably check the seat cushions on Air Force One to make up the difference, they are charged with saving his life after all.
(Image Credit ABC.com)
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Trooper_One
March 02, 2010 at 12:49pm
... I bet it's a ploy to make the enemies of the state to underestimate the Secrete Service.
$190M is chump-change for the US Government... Good grand strategy.
Zazubovich
March 01, 2010 at 4:37pm
Not the NSA or DIA or those other acronyms who get funded to the tune of billions. The SS guys are probably using thinkpads and Google with a few shared DOJ databases these days. Heck, give an agent a subscription and NewEgg gift card and he could probably get the job done in no time.
NSA
March 01, 2010 at 6:23am
Quote: A classified review of the aging computer system has revealed that the
system is now only operational about 60 percent of the timeSo, how is this classified if its in Maximum PC?
Do you people Violate National Security on a regular basis or what?
Keith E. Whisman
March 01, 2010 at 3:27pm
Shhhhhhhhhhhhh Don't tell anyone. Lets just keep this secret between us nerds. Non Nerds never even venture at this website anyhow so it's Secret is probably safe.
QuakindudeMod
March 01, 2010 at 8:11am
I'm pretty sure if it was still classified, it wouldn't be here on MaxPC. I've worked for the gov't for over 21 years. Most likely what happened is that picture and the info was suddenly declassified so that the Director could show lots of people the old ass crap they're dealing with. Through embarrassment and sympathy, the funds will suddenly be approved to replace it. Can't have the Chinese and the Russians laughing at us.
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dedgar
March 01, 2010 at 7:19am
Does MPC violate National Security on a regular basis? Anything is possible but not nearly as much as the Gov'ment violates themselves.
Who
March 01, 2010 at 2:22am
It's funny how people think the government is supposed to have all this super advanced equipment from tv and movies. They don't have any money to pay for those things, people. Lots of organizations are running of equipment 30+ years old, they upgrade eventually, get over it.
Keith E. Whisman
March 01, 2010 at 5:19am
You've got a point. When I was in the US Army when I was younger (I'm now 38) We used a computer that dated back to the 1950's and it used teletype tape. And a computer that had an 6 character single line LCD display for the main computer that output single and dual digit codes that we used a Field Manual to decipher. It actually had vacuum tubes in it.
imagonex
February 28, 2010 at 10:28pm
Funny how this coincides with the release of the Power7 systems just out this year.
Why didn't they talk about their old HP, Sun and Dell systems? Heck, come to think of it, in computer years, any 5 year old system is dinosaurian.
"Cloud" is the buzzword these days. I think this all it has to do with.
First, I'd take this ABC news report with a grain of salt. On top of that, the $187 is only an estimated figure not the actual figure. ABC doesn't even tell us exactly what is running on those IBM mainframes. Thank you for the in-depth news reporting ABC. I'll just go over and ask Jimmy Kimmel for more info.
Second, the Secret Service is not the type of agency that will give out it's cost of operation figures to the public. I doubt they'll even go out to say what exactly is running on those old (but apparently reliable since they're still running) IBM.
Third, even if you have the latest, fastest, hardest, strongest mainframe on the market, it still won't make you a better secret service. People make the difference regardless if you're running IBM z or VAX or whatever.
Keith E. Whisman
March 01, 2010 at 12:56am
I agree to a point. Listen secret service agents can get some practice by simulating combat by playing a round of COD Modern Warfare 2 and they just can't practice that way with this old computer. No more dead secret service agents. Lets send them XBOXS and PS3's. Perhaps something like Folding @home will help the secret service predict terrorist activities as well.
The article did say that the Mainframe isn't even available half the time because of crashes and down time do to the playing of text based adventures.
I'm also positive that our secret service can benefit by requiring all agents drink Dr. Pepper because it's great.
Government is just so damn insane right now that the only thing the government will take seriously is insane ramblings.
damazeen
February 28, 2010 at 9:06pm
My guess is the Service wants one of them "super-computers". If they have to be one step ahead of the bad guys, they need hardware and software that's two degrees above whats out there.
It all seems fishy, because my understanding is that the Secret Service has more power and authority than the CIA and the FBI placed together.Would have thought they had a better computer. Hell, that thing they have is like over 30 years old!
Here today, gone tomorrow. Live life.
mls067
February 28, 2010 at 5:48pm
oooh no, he said it wouldn't play crysis, he needs to be banned according to certain visitors!
I still need to buy that sarcasm font ;-)
americaeh
February 28, 2010 at 4:53pm
I wonder what this things 3dmarks vantage score is?
sudo apt-get install windows 7
DBsantos77
February 28, 2010 at 5:43pm
Probably in the negatives. Lol
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Keith E. Whisman
February 28, 2010 at 5:19pm
Well I believe ISA was the card interface back then so you would have to find an Nvidia Geforce or AMD ATI Radeon ISA card.
gendoikari1
February 28, 2010 at 6:36pm
I would assume the IBM Monochrome Display Adapter, or even the Color Graphics Adapter/Hercules Graphics Card.
Edit: There seems to be such thing as the ATI "Small Wonder" ISA card. Pre-Radeon, though.
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Keith E. Whisman
February 28, 2010 at 7:01pm
Really? That is so so very funny.... LOL.... I didn't even bother to do a google search. LOL.. Upgrade my old 8086 graphics from simply green to 24bit. I assume that because the old ATI cards I have used along time ago were 24bit and to think about it ATI cards just recently bumped things up to 32bit. I never noticed any difference though.
nmanguy
February 28, 2010 at 4:39pm
$187 million? They can spend $300 on a netbook that has more power than that thing.
dedgar
February 28, 2010 at 4:29pm
I hear that WOPR is available. Just don't play games on it. The last time just about wasn't so nice.
Keith E. Whisman
February 28, 2010 at 4:22pm
I would bet they meant to say $187,000.00 dollars with a budget of $33,000,000.00 dollars. With the cost of computing ever dropping it's logical to assume these numbers. A 187million dollar computer ought to be able to compute god. Should be able to simulate God. 187million dollars of computer is a whole hell of a lot of computer. Nuclear bombs are being simulated for less money than that.
Now for the image. I think there should be more, many more flashing square lights. Lots of flashing different colored lights that do something interesting. Like the mainframe that Oscar Goldman had in his office on the Bionic Man series. Thats a cool pic though. You know this is about the same type computer system that was at Rambo's disposal during Rambo First Blood Part 2.
nekollx
March 01, 2010 at 9:56am
I don't think it's the hardware that's the problem, as said a $250 netbook could do the work and have 20x the capacity the main problem is converting legacy, what 8 bit?, probrams to a 32 bit os
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zippzom
February 28, 2010 at 4:01pm
Assuming that the line isn't sarcasm, 187 million is more than 33 million
It is probably like this because it is supposed to be 33 billion
Or, it is supposed to be 33 million less than 187 million
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