Databases In Caves? A Unique Google Fiber Bid

An anonymous reader writes "Plenty of cities have submitted bids for the Google Fiber project, with most of their bids being centered around the attributes that could describe many communities. Yet one small midwestern town, with much less fanfare than the metropolitan bids, provided an unusual proposition for Google in their likely quixotic nomination. Quincy, IL, has an extensive series of underground caverns that could provide year-round temperature control, dedicated hydroelectric power, and security in the case of a terrorist attack."

Makes sense

[sys.stdout.write]

Sys admins pretty much live in caves already, right?

My Town Put A Bid In....

[BJ_Covert_Action]

We may not have extensive, cool underground caves, but we do have a nearly unlimited resource of young college-aged girls in warm sunny California weather right on the beach with an advanced technical university that can turn out underpaid interns by the droves. So suck it Quincy. =P

Re:My Town Put A Bid In....

[TooMuchToDo]

Your newsletter, I WANTS!

Re:Makes sense

[Monkeedude1212]

Hey!

It's called a LAIR.

Re:no, caves suck

[T Murphy]

You must be missing something. The bad guys in spy movies often put their secret bases in caves, complete with big computers with lots of unnecessary buttons and screens. Super villains know what they are doing, so I'm sure caves are an excellent choice.

Re:Carthage, MO has that as well

[sconeu]

Yeah, but it's not worth it, because everyone knows it'll all be plowed under and salted when the Romans [city-data.com] invade.

Re:Makes sense

[Yvan256]

No. Dragons live in lairs. And they guard treasures.

Batman lives in a cave.

If you're a system administrator in Quincy, Illinois and you have a black car, you're already on the path of becoming a super-hero!

Re:Cave as a work environment

[eshbums]

I've worked in the Kansas City caves and sat behind a desk on a computer for a while. It's fascinating for the first day but that ends quickly. The lack of sunlight and outdoor exposure really gets to drain on you week after week. Imagine getting up and going outside for some fresh air but when you go outside it's very dark, humid, claustrophobic, and the air is stale. It drives you nuts. Especially when you hear creaks and cracks all day in the dead of silence. I would not want to be an IT admin working in a cave.

Did you type 4 8 15 16 23 42 over and over again during the course of your day?

Re:Carthage, MO has that as well

[Mr Z]

Yeah, full size picture books are much better than small collages, that way you get to see the detail in addition to the big picture.

Re:My Town Put A Bid In....

[BJ_Covert_Action]

And to top it all off one of California's only nuclear power plants operating right in that high earthquake zone! I can't think of a better paradise frankly. Plenty of circus and wine for the locals, and if something fundamental gets fubarred we have a nice messy nuclear explosion to cover it all up*. Ah the promised land. =)

*: So as to not lose geek cred, I do realize that Diablo Canyon will not be exploding anytime soon and that, in the event of an actual reactor issue, an explosion will not be the resultant phenomenon. For humor purposes, however, I enjoy pointing out the delicious absurdity of building a nuclear power plant near a fault line.

Re:Makes sense

[Dekker3D]

and a sysadmin's servers aren't his own little treasure? i could swear i've heard one call his "his precioussss..."

The Republic

[ravenscar]

This sounds like Plato's version of a server farm.

Re:no, caves suck

[MaskedSlacker]

The dirt usually doesn't just magically disappear something has to take it away.

Shovels in this case.