Feb
18

Cloud computing players look for boost from federal government

Amazon and Salesforce among tech giants gearing up for federal expansion.

While cloud computing giants Microsoft and Google have already been known to operate in the federal space, Amazon and Salesforce are gearing up to roll out massive plays as well, looking to compete against the more well established players.

Dan Burton, senior vice president of public policy with Salesforce.com, considers adoption of the cloud by the federal government almost a foregone conclusion, declaring at a recent government technology conference in Washington that “The cloud computing debate is over.” Citing all the vendors, integrators, and consultants who are in favor of the move, Burton goes on to say that “it is inevitable that the federal government, just like state and local governments, will shift to cloud platforms, cloud infrastructures, cloud applications, and that that train has left the station.”

Executives from several leading technology companies such as Google and Redhat are bullish about the prospects of federal adoption of the cloud given that the mandate to shift to the cloud originated from the White House’s tech team.

Sep
09

Amazon Web Services Enables Private Cloud Connections To Lure Enterprise Users

Amazon’s announcements this week enrich AWS and just might win the enterprise’s trust in the company’s public cloud offering.

Customers who want to do cloud computing in a more secure way got a guarded on-ramp to the public cloud Thursday as AWS (Amazon Web Services) began a newly concerted campaign to attract the coveted enterprise sector to its cloud. The three main facets of the announcement, according to reports by Reuters and The Register, involved Direct Connect, a sizable VPC expansion, and significant enhancements to existing virtual private cloud and Identity and Access Management. A virtual private cloud in Amazon parlance means separate facilities in the EC2 infrastructure contracted for by a private company separate from the multi-tenant public cloud. Instead of using the Internet or even a VPN, they can now set up their own private network to a facility that enjoys a high speed, private link to a nearby Amazon EC2 data center.

As one might guess, Direct Connect is all about providing direct connections to AWS data centers rather than risking the usual Internet-based connection. Amazon has designated Equinix its partner in secure communications, which operates 90 high-performance data centers on networking hubs in 37 markets around the world. Customers wanting private cloud-style computing may establish dedicated links to an Equinix data center that will have a dedicated link to EC2′s Virtual Private Cloud service. Amazon’s Virgina location (for the United States) is already live, with Los Angeles and San Jose scheduled to be added to serve Oregon facility over the next few months. Also in the works are facilities in Singapore and Tokyo which will serve the Asia/Pacific region as well as Dublin to provide London’s link for Europe.

Pricing was also announced: uploading data to EC2 is free but AWS will charge virtual private cloud customers for each network port that they use. A 1-Gbps port will cost 30 cents an hour; a 10-Gbps port, $2.25 an hour. Downloading data from the cloud is not free. AWS charges 2 cents per GB for downloads.

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