To store the amount of data required for the ICM system, and for the Decision Support System to use a large model to evaluate and select response plans in real time, the I-210 Pilot is designed to have storage and processing functionality hosted in the Amazon cloud. This provides:
- Computing power that can be scaled to the demand as needed
- Significant flexibility for solving the many integration and deployment issues in a complex and varied transportation environment
The following diagram shows the basic systems within the cloud and connecting to it. Note that this does not depict actual network architecture.
Cloud computing providers, including Amazon, offer computer resources on a pay-as-you-go basis. Virtual computers can be “turned on” to scale the available computing horsepower to match the current demand, and then, when demand relaxes, the unneeded services can be extinguished to save costs.
Cloud services are designed from beginning-to-end with security features built in, such as separation/isolation of resources, strong encryption, multi-factor authentication, firewalls, logging, and audit trails. They also provide features and tools that can meet the security requirements of multiple industries and even different governments -- health care, education, business (credit cards), U.S. government standards, and so on.
In addition to the scalability for the I-210 Pilot, using the cloud offers greater flexibility and scalability as the Connected Corridors program expands to other corridors and districts.