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DISA'S RACE TO THE CLOUDS

By Joseph Brygider, DISA Corporate Communications

By now, almost everyone has heard of cloud computing. Amazon, Google, and other companies have been offering software/platforms as a service for some time. Cloud computing has been primarily a capability offered by commercial service providers but DISA’s Rapid Access Computing Environment (RACE) is looking to change that.

Cloud Computing
RACE is the first service offered by DISA to address cloud computing. In most networking diagrams, “the cloud” refers to the Internet. It is ambiguous space; the user has no need to know the path that information follows, or what servers, nodes, and paths the connection makes. Cloud computing builds upon that concept: the user “rents” space (a server, computing machine, software, etc.) from a provider, but doesn’t necessarily have a specific box or location. In other words, the user isn’t purchasing a computer; the user is purchasing the ability to compute. All of what goes on “in the cloud” is invisible, by design, to the user.

What Do I Get for $500 per image? • One CPU, 1GB memory, 50GB storage • A DECC standard platform developed under DoD IA standards • NIPR connectivity • LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) • (Security Technical Implementation Guide) STIG’d or unSTIG’d operating environment • Choice of MS Windows or Red Hat Linux operating systems Why Should I Use RACE? • 24-hour provisioning • Online self-service • Credit card or MIPR payment • Month-to-month service • Capacity on demand • No annual maintenance fee • No capital investment • Pay for what you need • 365/24/7 Service Desk support

RACE is a quick, low risk, secure solution for developers, testers and eventually, anyone who needs a computing environment. Using a credit card or a Military Interdepartmental Purchase Request (MIPR), a user can purchase a basic computing environment. This is a process that, at one time, could take months. Building on DISA’s capacity service contracts, along with industry partnerships, RACE reduces the time to just 24 hours.

DISA’s foray into cloud computing originated with a request from then-director Air Force Lt Gen Charles E. Croom Jr. for agile computing. With RACE, users will have the ability to sign onto a portal, view a list of service offerings, design their environment, and purchase the service with a credit card or MIPR. Within 24 hours of funding approval, the user will have a computing environment. “RACE will provide a fast, secure, and flexible environment for the user,” said Air Force Col Joseph Means, Jr., RACE Program Manager. RACE is agile indeed.

Flexibility, Scalability, Economy
RACE uses virtual server technology to scale capacity up or down based on user demands. In computing centers in the past, as many as half  of the servers in operation could be used at as little as 10 percent capacity. Virtualizing servers, creating numerous virtual computers on a single box, allows servers to be used more efficiently, thus reducing costs.

In addition to the program being able to scale rapidly allowing it to support customer demand, individual users can scale their environment to suit their individual requirements. If a user has requirements beyond the initial package, they can simply add more capacity using the self-service portal.

Users purchase an environment on a month-by-month basis, so the costs and risks of acquiring and sustaining a computing environment are mitigated. The base price for service is $500 per image.  When a user is done using the environment, the computing resources are returned to the pool.

Developers, Start Your Credit Cards …
The ability to quickly purchase a computing environment using a credit card is a revolutionary advance in agility for DoD. The credit card transaction is basically instantaneous. A customer can use a credit card for the first month of provisioning, and then use a MIPR to provide funding as required to continue using the platform. This allows a customer to get a quick start and to continue to fund in whatever way is most convenient.

Another benefit of the ability to purchase the service with a credit card is accessibility, both to government personnel and contractor partners.

“We’ve tried to keep this as accessible as possible, to both government and to our contractor-partners,” said Steve Kerr, RACE program technical lead.

Access security is provided via Public Key Infrastructure credentials contained on users’ Common Access Cards.  Allowances for “soft certs,” credentials that are provided by various certifying authorities that are recognized by DISA, are available for users who do not have a CAC.

More Security
RACE provides a gateway to the Defense Enterprise Computing Centers, and will reinforce the Department of Defense security standards. The RACE pilot will initially reside in a DECC Zone B enclave. Different enclaves have differing levels of security; Zone B provides security levels appropriate for development and testing.

One beneficial by-product of customers using RACE is that it will encourage the use of a standard operating environment, and will thus promote a standard architecture across the department – a benefit leading to increased interoperability and decreased stovepipes.

Futures
Initial-operational-capability testing for RACE started with DISA’s Computing Services Directorate in August. RACE is slated for deployment to customers in October, the beginning of the new fiscal year.

RACE begins to address the capabilities of the cloud computing concept; however, anticipated offering beyond the pilot include: providing access to an environment supporting pre-production testing with appropriate security, known as a Zone A enclave; software and services, including applications, utilities, FDCE design tools, and security services; higher capacity servers with additional optional storage; backup and continuity of operations (COOP) capabilities; and additional operating systems.