ZJX CTLR ADVISES OF 2 HOST COMPUTER FAILURES WITHIN A 24 HR PERIOD ALLEGEDLY CAUSED BY SOME 'KNOWN' PROB.

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THERE HAVE BEEN 2 OCCASIONS AT ZJX IN THE LAST WK WHEN THE FACILITY'S HOST COMPUTER MALFUNCTIONED. THE ZJX HOST COMPUTER INCURRED SEVERAL ABORTS AND START-OVERS CAUSED BY AN INVALID ADDRESS. THIS OCCURRENCE WAS FROM A KNOWN PROB THAT HAS BEEN AROUND FOR 10 YRS. THIS COMPUTER FAILURE CAUSED THE FACILITY TO FALL BACK ONTO THE BACK-UP SYS DARC. WHILE IN DARC; MANUAL ENTRIES/ACTIONS NORMALLY PERFORMED AUTOMATICALLY BY THE COMPUTER WERE REQUIRED. THESE ACTIONS OVERWHELMED THE CTLRS AT ZJX CREATED UNSAFE SITS AND JEOPARDIZED THE FLYING PUBLIC. THE SYS WAS RESTORED AND NO ACTIONS BY FACILITY MGMNT HAVE BEEN TAKEN TO INFORM THE USERS (CTLRS) THE NATURE OF THE 'KNOWN SIT' THAT CREATED THE FAILURE. IF THE USERS DON'T KNOW WHAT CAUSED THE PROB; HOW CAN THEY PREVENT IT FROM OCCURRING AGAIN? 1 DAY LATER; AROUND XA00; THE HOST COMPUTER FAILED AGAIN. ONCE AGAIN; THIS OVERWHELMED THE CTLRS. I WAS WORKING THE DATA POS AT R66. I WAS UNABLE TO PERFORM THE MANY TASKS THAT WERE REQUIRED OF ME. I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT I VIOLATED THE AIRSPACE OF SEVERAL SECTORS IN ZTL'S AIRSPACE AND IN ZJX'S AIRSPACE BY ALLOWING ACFT TO ENTER THEIR AIRSPACE WITHOUT THEIR APPROVAL OR KNOWLEDGE. 24 HRS AFTER THIS EVENT; THE CAUSE IS STILL UNKNOWN AND IS BEING INVESTIGATED. DURING THE COURSE OF BOTH OF THESE EVENTS; THE TFC DESTINED TO TRAVEL IN AND THROUGH THE ZJX AIRSPACE WAS NOT STOPPED OR SLOWED DOWN. NO ATTEMPT BY THE TMU WAS MADE TO ADJUST THE FLOW OF TFC. THESE ACTIONS FURTHER OVERWHELMED THE CTLRS OPERATING THE SYS AND JEOPARDIZED THE FLYING PUBLIC BY PLACING THEM IN AN UNSAFE SIT THAT HAD BECOME UNMANAGEABLE. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATED HE DID NOT KNOW WHAT THE EXACT PROB WAS; NOR HAS ASKED FOR MAINT/MGMNT INCIDENT FAILURE CLARIFICATION; BUT HAS 'MOVED ON.' RPTR STATED THAT THE EQUIP IS OLD; THE PROB IS 'KNOWN' BY ALL AND BELIEVES IT IS SPECIFIC TO ZJX.