[Esip-cloud] Cloud Providers and Offerings

[Alex Eschenbaum]

Hello ESIP Cloud Group,


I'm with UCAR/NCAR in Colorado and have been researching cloud services to stimulate their use here.  Today's call was my first to start getting involved with ESIP.  I thought to share these follow-up thoughts:


Regarding IAAS providers, this Gartner report lists quite a few.  Microsoft, Google, and HP offerings were not listed yet, due to timing of the initial study.  Of note, Terremark (owned by Verizon) is growing fast in government contracts.

http://www.gartner.com/reprints/verizon-v8?id=1-1CKZ6BY&ct=121022&st=sb
(reprint care of Terremark)


I thought to mention there are also non-commercial offerings for specific purposes and customers.  Some examples are:
http://opencloudconsortium.org
http://scienceclouds.org/clouds/
https://cloud.sdsc.edu (currently storage only)



Regarding a cost comparison tool, there are challenges to know if special Education or Government pricing is available.  Being a member of Internet2, we are keeping an eye on their NET+ pricing options being developed:

http://www.internet2.edu/netplus/cloud-services.html


Here's a related cost tool I've ran across, although it is not full featured:
http://www.cloudorado.com


Cheers,

--
Alex Eschenbaum
Manager, Information Technology
UCAR
desk 303-497-8886
mobile 303-434-9688