Amazon Web Services provides JPL a vast array of capabilities to store, process, and analyze mission data. JPLers were early to adopt AWS services to build complex solutions. However, we quickly grew to over 50 AWS accounts, 80 IAM users, and hundreds of resources. A team of engineers inside JPL's Office of the CIO developed a cloud governance model. The true challenge was implementing it on existing deployments. Learn about our model and how we overcame the challenges.

1. Bringing Governance to an Existing Cloud at
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jonathan Chiang, Matt Derenski – NASA/JPL
November 12–15
© 2013 California Institute of Technology. Government sponsorship acknowledged.

2. Introductions
• Jonathan Chiang – IT Chief Engineer
• Matthew Derenski – Cyber Security Engineer

3. Agenda
•
•
•
•
•
•
Provide a brief background of JPL
Detail why JPL uses AWS
Understand JPL use cases for AWS
Describe JPL’s early engagement with AWS
Review JPL’s implementation of its governance plan
Utilizing governance to achieve organizational
efficiency
• Measuring the value

4. What is JPL?
• We are a Federally Funded
Research and Development
Center (FFRDC) managed by
Caltech
• We have 21 spacecraft and 9
instruments conducting active
missions
• We manage NASA’s Deep
Space Network (DSN)
• We “dare mighty things”

5. Why JPL use AWS?
•
•
•
•
Quick and easy to provision/de-provision
Reduce CapEx and large initial investments
Pay as you go, only for what you use
Automation and reusability

6. How JPL uses AWS
HPC/Data Processing

7. How JPL Uses AWS
Public Outreach
Mars Exploration Program
Mars.jpl.nasa.gov
Eyes on the Solar System
Eyes.jpl.nasa.gov
Night Sky Network
Nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov

8. How JPL Uses AWS
Storage, Backup, and Disaster Recovery
Mars Exploration Rovers
Station Fires

9. How JPL Uses AWS
Rapid Development
Collaboration
Enterprise Applications

10. Early AWS Engagement
• Issued 60+ root level AWS accounts to various
project teams
• Added all accounts to consolidated billing
• Associated a single project/task number for
chargeback and bill back

11. The Problem

12. Key Principles of JPL’s Governance Model
Understand your users and their use cases
Apply policy and accountability
Provide auditing and traceability
Leverage an iterative implementation

13. Account Management
Consolidated
Billing
(No Users or
Resources)
Consolidated Billing
AWS Root – MFA, Managed
By IT Sec
IAM Accounts
Resources
MSL Account
IAM User 02
MSL
Developer
IAM User 01
Auditing
AMI 1
Hosting
Account
MER Account
IAM User 02
MER
Developer
AMI 2
AMI 1
IAM User
Hosting
Provisioning
IAM User 01
Auditing
AMI 2
+50 More
AMI 1
AMI 2

14. Organizational Efficiency (DevOps)
• Automated Configuration
Management
• Monitoring, Notification,
Escalation
• Networking and Security
Operations
Development
Dev
Ops
Operations
Quality
Assurance

15. Measure the Value
• Calculate the cost of implementing governance
along with the cost of cloud resources
• Consider the benefits of organizational
efficiencies gained by cloud and governance
• Compare agility and speed to market vs.
adoption of governance

16. Summary

17. We are eager to hear your feedback
on this presentation and on re:Invent.
ENT201
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