back to article Cloud-in-a-box? Bo-ring! How about cloud-in-a-tank?

Microsoft’s Azure Stack cloud-in-a-box has been adapted for in-field use by the world’s militaries. Defence contractor Thales and Microsoft have teamed to build a version of Azure Stack that’s been physically and digitally hardened. The result is a portable Azure Stack that can operate when offline, a change from the cloud-in …

  1. Scott Marshall

    Cloud-in-a-box?

    ... that can operate when offline, a change from the cloud-in-a-box’s usual arrangement, as Thales assumes there may be times during operations when getting online won’t be possible.

    One presumes that the part about “getting online won't be possible” is actually a euphemism for the “fog-of-war”.

    There you have it folks, in IT circles “military clouds” shall henceforth be known as the “fog-of-war”™.

    1. The Man Who Fell To Earth Silver badge
      WTF?

      I'd like to know

      How often a BSOD results in the poor users real deaths. Same question for the medical market.

  2. Phil Kingston

    I do hope it looks cool. And is badged as Microsoft Azure Black Hack Multipack Attack Rack Stack

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      ...and hopefully a smaller version can be deployed as a manpack

  3. MrTechTech

    I'm likely being highly ignorant....

    But why?

    Why does the US military need a full-stack "cloud in a box" situation.... in a tank?

    I get it, software runs systems in a tank, so have redundancies for.... I guess the equivalent of an ECU.

    Are tanks really running off .net / asp though?

    Could I potentially write powershell that'd deploy a group of tanks and send them to various waypoints? I mean that would actually be kinda awesome...

    Is it maybe about the comms equipment inside? Skype For Business in your tank? (Possibly Lync, never know)

    Are azure active directory services required? Are the boys all logging into their O365 emails from the tank? (Not saying it's an awful idea, just a slightly implausible one).

    .... I kinda don't get it.

    Surely a tank needs operational tank.... things, not to be a server / local cloud... type.... thing?

    (I am asking genuinely even if I seem slightly sarcastic.... why would they want to put this in a tank? Something please enlighten me?)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I'm likely being highly ignorant....

      Cyber warfare of course. You can then deploy tanks for DDOS attacks. Keeps those poor military contractors in business.

      1. Korev Silver badge
        Coat

        Re: I'm likely being highly ignorant....

        Which shell do you think they'd use?

        1. Hans Neeson-Bumpsadese Silver badge

          Re: I'm likely being highly ignorant....

          Which shell do you think they'd use?

          I don't think it matters, so long as it runs Minesweeper

        2. not.known@this.address

          Re: I'm likely being highly ignorant....

          Korev asked

          "Which shell do you think they'd use?"

          APFSDSDUBSOD? (Armour-Piercing Fin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot Depleted Uranium Blue Screen Of Death)

  4. Korev Silver badge

    Hypervisor?

    If it's offline, why use Azure and not just HyperV (or VMWare) and avoid some added complexity?

    1. TheVogon

      Re: Hypervisor?

      "why use Azure and not just HyperV (or VMWare) and avoid some added complexity?"

      Because Azure stack runs pretty much any of the services on Azure too - it's not just a hypervisor. It's the only vendor with a true hybrid cloud option. So it's just load a container / configured image and go.

  5. se99paj

    Very confused

    I'm quite confused - Isn't this just a server on a Local Area Network?

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Can't resist

    The basic concept started a while ago. https://www.scribd.com/document/113619713/A-Billion-Node-Cloud

    Evidently, it went military before it went civilian.....

  7. Kev99 Silver badge

    Oh boy. Let's put armamnet control systems on the net. We all know how safe and secure that is.

    1. strum

      >Let's put armamnet control systems on the net. We all know how safe and secure that is.

      And put BOFH & PFY in charge of it.

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