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NEBULA: NASA'S STRATEGIC CL OUD

are distinct from but not terribly different from those of many
businesses. They include

• Finding a model for an easy-to-construct data center
that can be put to flexible use

• Having such a data center incorporate the latest

economies of scale

• Making the data center easy to expand

• Making it a resource that can be shared with
other agencies

• Furthering public engagement with NASA

• Offering a platform based on open source code

• Contributing NASA-produced code as open source
code that other agencies will be able to use

• Making the data center easy to virtualize and manage

• Making it easier for researchers and partners outside
of NASA to use NASA’s data and computing facilities

Nebula has several factors working in its favor. It is being

built at a federal research center that was an early participant
in ARPAnet, which later became the Internet. It also sits at the
location of the MAE-West, a major hub for top-flight Internet
service providers as well as the location of one of the servers
of the Domain Name System, a set of servers that translate Web
browser entries in an English language URL into a specific
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)

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