Computers drawing enough electricity to power a small city will soon fill a National Security Agency data center on a 240-acre site where officials officially broke ground on Thursday.
But that does not mean Utah is about to see a significant influx of NSA analysts who would not be able to tell their neighbors what they do for a living. Most of the long-term staff at the NSA’s Utah Data Center will have technical jobs, keeping the machines in the 100,000 square feet of computer space working — that within a complex that will include 1 million square feet of enclosed space.
Building the mammoth computer center will bring 5,000 to 10,000 much-needed construction jobs through the time the center is finished in 2013. Long term, the staff will be comprised of 100 to 200 information technology specialists and mechanical and electrical engineers.
NSA Begins Construction of Massive Utah Data Center
January 7, 2011
http://publicintelligence.net/nsa-begins-construction-of-massive-utah-data-center/
Data security center in Utah targets cyberspace
Reuters
Officials tout the data center mission as providing technical assistance to the Department of Homeland Security, provide intelligence and warning to cyber threats and carry out cyber-security objectives.
“Just as we defend our lands, America also needs to defend cyberspace,” Hatch said. “The Data Center will be part of our expanding efforts to defend our Department of Defense computer systems from cyber attack, and will play key role in helping Homeland Security keep our government’s civilian computer systems safe.”
The new center will be built on a 240-acre site within the Camp Williams military compound. When completed in 2013 it will provide 100,000 square feet of computer space and one million square feet of total space.
The Utah site was picked over 37 other potential sites.
Hatch pointed to Utah’s higher education institutions, language facilities and the large number of people who speak multiple languages as selling points.
Officials estimate that up to 10,000 people will be employed in construction and development of the data center. Upon completion 100-200 people will be permanently employed at the center.
Utah Data Center
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Data_Center
The Utah Data Center, also known as the Intelligence Community Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative Data Center, is a data storage facility for the United States Intelligence Community that is designed to store extremely large amounts of data. Its purpose is to support the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative (CNCI), though its precise mission is classified. The National Security Agency (NSA), which will lead operations at the facility, is the executive agent for the Director of National Intelligence. It is located at Camp Williams, near Bluffdale, Utah, between Utah Lake and Great Salt Lake, on the boundary line between Salt Lake County and Utah County to the south.