Verizon is adopting a variation of the Xen open source hypervisor, which enables virtual machines modeled on other kinds of hypervisor to run the company's offering in. For example, VMware virtual machines can operate on Verizon's cloud. Additional hypervisors, namely KVM (which is open source) and Microsoft's Hyper V will be supported eventually.
CloudSwitch is providing the multi hypervisor technology. CloudSwitch was founded by John Considine and purchased by Verizon in 2011. With this technology, a more fluid pricing system is being incorporated by Verizon, compared to the pricing used on other services.
Verizon are not just selling pre packaged large, small or medium sized virtual machines. Instead, customers can decide what quantity of storage, memory and computing capacity is required. For example, customers can acquire a virtual machine with 1 GHz, 2 GHz or 500 MHz of CPU power, along with anything from 1 GB to 8 GB of memory.
Also, according to Considine, the company will provide "reserved performance". This is meant to guarantee levels of performance. For example, a 500 M bps or 100 M bps network throughput could be guaranteed for every virtual machine. Storage can be assured up to the quantity of InputOutput Operations (IOPs) per second --- 1,000 IOPs or 100 IOPs.
Verizon is a telecoms carrier that has its' own worldwide IP network. Consequently, it is able to offer methods of changing Level 2 networks that are distinct from other cloud suppliers. Moreover, it enables customers to use multicasting and broadcast.
For this service, Verizon will use the data facilities it acquired when it bought hosting supplier Terremark during 2011. Also, it will use its' own data facilities alongside this. These facilities will be situated in Santa Clara (Calif), Culpepper (Va), Miami, Denver, Amsterdam, Sao Paulo (Brazil) and London. In 2014, data facilities will be set up in Asia. These services will be provided in public beta format by the close of 2013. However, the complete pricing list has not yet been revealed.
Considine refused to say any more about the degree to which government agencies, like the US National Security Agency, may be able to access and collect the data from Verizon's data facilities. In light of the leaks from former NSA employee Edward Snowden, it's obvious that the NSA have access to Verizon's telephone records. Nonetheless, Considine emphasized that encryption maintenance is essential to correctly secure classified data within the cloud.
Verizon will still support its' more dated Enterprise Cloud service for an unspecified time period. Undoubtedly though, the new architecture is the future. Now that the new cloud services from Verizon offer bespoke pricing options, several of its' competitors might opt to follow suit with their own particular services.
