Floating data offers unique security challenges

You've probably already read the news of a company planning to use container ships as floating data centers. The plan is similar to the modular shipping container data centers. Only instead of parking them in your back lot, you moor them to a nearby pier. The company, International Data Security (IDS), is planning to deploy the first such data ship next to Pier 50 in San Francisco.

Most reports have focused on the suitability of a ship as a platform for a data center. Large fuel tanks and a built-in electricity generator allow such a ship to operate without utility power or refueling for almost a month. Sea water can be used as a free coolant to run air conditioners for the servers. And of course a container ship can provide almost 200,000 square feet of usable space for servers, storage, operations rooms and living quarters. My first thought was that most geeks get seasick. This would not make a pleasant working environment.

More seriously, I was interested in the security and compliance implications of a data ship. IDS plans to have these ships permanently docked and connected to utility power and fiber optics. But there is always the possibility of using a ship as a floating data center in international waters. Such an arrangement would offer some very interesting features. One application would be to store data and run servers for offshore online casinos. With LEO satellite uplinks or ship-to-shore microwave or laser links, a ship like that could operate outside of cumbersome federal laws. Just like the Prohibition era booze ships, it could hover just outside the national waters and provide services that are prohibited or tightly controlled by a country's government.

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You've probably already read the news of a company planning to use container ships as floating data centers. The plan is similar to the modular shipping container data centers. Only instead of parking them in your back lot, you moor them to a nearby pier. The company, International Data Security (IDS), is planning to deploy the first such data ship next to Pier 50 in San Francisco.

Most reports have focused on the suitability of a ship as a platform for a data center. Large fuel tanks and a built-in electricity generator allow such a ship to operate without utility power or refueling for almost a month. Sea water can be used as a free coolant to run air conditioners for the servers. And of course a container ship can provide almost 200,000 square feet of usable space for servers, storage, operations rooms and living quarters. My first thought was that most geeks get seasick. This would not make a pleasant working environment.

More seriously, I was interested in the security and compliance implications of a data ship. IDS plans to have these ships permanently docked and connected to utility power and fiber optics. But there is always the possibility of using a ship as a floating data center in international waters. Such an arrangement would offer some very interesting features. One application would be to store data and run servers for offshore online casinos. With LEO satellite uplinks or ship-to-shore microwave or laser links, a ship like that could operate outside of cumbersome federal laws. Just like the Prohibition era booze ships, it could hover just outside the national waters and provide services that are prohibited or tightly controlled by a country's government.

If you don't like the idea of offshore gambling, perhaps a more “noble” example would work: Offshore radio stations such as Voice Of America have operated from ships in international waters, providing news and information broadcast into countries with restricted speech. These radio services are able to bypass censors and beam directly to anyone with a radio receiver in totalitarian countries. A similar scenario could be possible with offshore data ships. Using Wi-Fi, WiMAX or other wireless technologies, such a ship could provide services and data to residents of a totalitarian country. Such ships could also act as an international “safe haven” for data, residing outside the control of any country. Effectively the data center becomes almost like a sovereign territory.

Of course, there are many interesting challenges, not the least of which is piracy of the Arrrrrrrrrrrrr variety. In international waters there is no national jurisdiction but there is also no protection. You have to manage your own security and deal with any challenges from pirates or annoyed navies and coast guards. The challenges eclipse the benefits for now, but only because there are free countries where it is cheaper to operate. Booze prohibition brought booze-ships. Data prohibitions and surveillance can bring data ships.

Read more about data center in Network World's Data Center section.