2 ms·

> Feds have raided datacenters and taken servers What do they do, walk into a Google datacenter and randomly yank out a 1U server that they feel like and rip o

by dheera 2y ago

> Feds have raided datacenters and taken servers What do they do, walk into a Google datacenter and randomly yank out a 1U server that they feel like and rip out some ethernet cables? I really don't quite understand how this works. Any good datacenter distributes everything geographically and encrypts everything.

aDyslecticCrow 2y ago
You're thinking too big. "Normal size datacenters" is a small industrial building with 20 racks. And yes, they walk in, shut the power and start hauling drives. No joke.
- nbernard 2y ago
  > they walk in, shut the power and start hauling drives. Or, if they suspect disk encryption, they don't shut the power. Instead, they dissect the power cords to add a special UPS, so that they can move servers without powering them off...
  - dheera 2y ago
    OK, so you have a special power supply that shuts off power to the system if it detects that its GPS location moved?
    - wutwutwat 2y ago
      or, and hear me out here... you don't do fucked up shit that would require such engineering to hide your activity. crazy I know right?! it might just work though. your shit isn't getting raided unless you are facilitating some horrible stuff
    - aDyslecticCrow 2y ago
      Block of thermite and a gyroscope? But perhaps it's still best to just... not mass seed linux ISOs for others.
      - Hackbraten 2y ago
        Reminds me of John Birges’s famous contraption [0]. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey%27s_Resort_Hotel_bombing#/media/File:April_2019-_Harvey%E2%80%99s_Casino_Bomb.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey%27s_Resort_Hotel_bombin...
eightysixfour 2y ago
Some people still rent physical servers or even, shockingly, colocate their own boxes!
100pctremote 2y ago
Datacenters retail space, power, and cooling -- sometimes bandwidth. Data privacy is up to the tenant, but datacenters have a process just like any ISP to facilitate the execution of legal warrants.
j45 2y ago
It's how it can work - I suggest you go read some articles on how this goes down and how much encryption does or doesn't help. Datacentres don't distribute anything, that's cloud thinking. The person with their equipment there does. Now, setting up one's own cloud using some of the terrific IaaS/PaaS is worth learning from on youtube to see how far it's come.
LPisGood 2y ago
I was wondering that myself. It led me down the path of imagining two data centers: one in your basement, and one in some office building with a reception area, some cubicles, etc. It seems like the former would see the government breaking down doors and yanking servers off the rack, ripping ethernet cables. The latter would probably see a phone call or perhaps a discussion with reception, followed by a security officer or something. The suspicious workload could be the exact same in both cases, but this is one of those neat little spots where being a Real Business has massive advantages.
Integer 2y ago
That's exactly how it works in Russia. This led to some innovative services and exotic contermeasures, like locating the datacentres inside the perimeter of military factories (hard for LEOs to breach unnoticed), or installing racks inside trucks - you have time to drive them out of a nearby building while the front doors are breached.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]

by dheera 2y ago

aDyslecticCrow 2y ago

You're thinking too big. "Normal size datacenters" is a small industrial building with 20 racks. And yes, they walk in, shut the power and start hauling drives. No joke.

nbernard 2y ago
> they walk in, shut the power and start hauling drives. Or, if they suspect disk encryption, they don't shut the power. Instead, they dissect the power cords to add a special UPS, so that they can move servers without powering them off...
- dheera 2y ago
  OK, so you have a special power supply that shuts off power to the system if it detects that its GPS location moved?
  - wutwutwat 2y ago
    or, and hear me out here... you don't do fucked up shit that would require such engineering to hide your activity. crazy I know right?! it might just work though. your shit isn't getting raided unless you are facilitating some horrible stuff
  - aDyslecticCrow 2y ago
    Block of thermite and a gyroscope? But perhaps it's still best to just... not mass seed linux ISOs for others.
    - Hackbraten 2y ago
      Reminds me of John Birges’s famous contraption [0]. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey%27s_Resort_Hotel_bombing#/media/File:April_2019-_Harvey%E2%80%99s_Casino_Bomb.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey%27s_Resort_Hotel_bombin...

eightysixfour 2y ago

Some people still rent physical servers or even, shockingly, colocate their own boxes!

100pctremote 2y ago

Datacenters retail space, power, and cooling -- sometimes bandwidth. Data privacy is up to the tenant, but datacenters have a process just like any ISP to facilitate the execution of legal warrants.

j45 2y ago

It's how it can work - I suggest you go read some articles on how this goes down and how much encryption does or doesn't help. Datacentres don't distribute anything, that's cloud thinking. The person with their equipment there does. Now, setting up one's own cloud using some of the terrific IaaS/PaaS is worth learning from on youtube to see how far it's come.

LPisGood 2y ago

I was wondering that myself. It led me down the path of imagining two data centers: one in your basement, and one in some office building with a reception area, some cubicles, etc. It seems like the former would see the government breaking down doors and yanking servers off the rack, ripping ethernet cables. The latter would probably see a phone call or perhaps a discussion with reception, followed by a security officer or something. The suspicious workload could be the exact same in both cases, but this is one of those neat little spots where being a Real Business has massive advantages.

Integer 2y ago

That's exactly how it works in Russia. This led to some innovative services and exotic contermeasures, like locating the datacentres inside the perimeter of military factories (hard for LEOs to breach unnoticed), or installing racks inside trucks - you have time to drive them out of a nearby building while the front doors are breached.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]