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AT&T Delves into Cloud Computing

AT&T has introduced a new hosted service that offers online storage, processing power and enterprise applications. The company is targeting organizations with seasonal or dynamic increases and decreases in operations by allowing users to scale capacity up or down as needed.

The service, called Synaptic Hosting, will offer virtualized servers, data storage and the ability to manage applications and computing resources. All deals feature service-level agreements.

Synaptic Hosting will use five AT&T datacenters and management software developed by USinternetworking, a high-end provider of hosting services AT&T acquired in 2006. The datacenters are in Piscataway, N.J.; San Diego, Calif.; Annapolis, Md.; Singapore; and Amsterdam. Each location will act as a gateway for the AT&T network.

One early customer is the U.S. Olympic Committee, which hosts its Web site through the service.

"We anticipate rapidly increasing traffic up to and during the Beijing Olympic Games, tapering off in the months following the events," said Damani Short, the organization's chief information officer, in a statement. "AT&T Synaptic Hosting is ideal for handling the fluctuating online demand associated with the Olympic Games."

About the Author

Joab Jackson is the chief technology editor of Government Computing News (GCN.com).

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