Summer Internship Journals: Nazeli '17 and Shahen Hagen '17 at Jackpine Technologies

As I reach the halfway point of my time at Jackpine, I am struck with the vast amount of information I have learned in the past three weeks. I have been able to not only run tests on code but actually edit the code myself, and I have learned the basics of testing and editing code that is shared among a large group of people.

The main product of Jackpine is CONS3RT, software that essentially helps users to deploy and test their own software systems. The product utilizes the power of virtual machines, which allow for an operating system to be run without needing the physical machine (i.e. running Windows on a Mac); instead, there are servers controlled by companies such as Amazon or VDC who sell the space to people who need it to run software. CONS3RT is able to selectively use this space only when a deployment is being run. This way, users are only charged for the time there machine is “on” as opposed to if it were to be left on indefinitely which could become very expensive very quickly. The other benefit to CONS3RT is that it is incredibly easy to use and greatly simplifies the process of running and testing virtual machines and software.

As I near the halfway point in my time at Jackpine, I have learned so much. Jackpine Technologies is far from simple. So many of the aspects were once foreign to me as a rising senior with little experience with computer science. However, after three weeks I have learned so much about Jackpine, marketing, and testing.

On my first day at Hanscom Air Force Base, I was stunned at how little I understood about Jackpine. The multiple environments, clouds, and services confused me. However, over the last few weeks I have gotten a firm grasp on the company. I learned that Jackpine is a cloud orchestration company that pairs corporate and individual users with cloudspace. This allows users to access their computers remotely and complete tasks that would otherwise be unavailable. This process of pairing cloudspace with customers through Jackpine saves the user money. Rather than having to turn on and off the cloud that they are using, or rent cloudspace for allotted times, they can work with Jackpine and simply use as much cloudspace as they need. In the short term this might only save them a few hours worth a day, but over a year Jackpine can save customers hundreds of dollars.