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by barista 4609 days ago
What platforms is it hosted on? Did that have anything to do with who is helping out?
2 comments

i'd speculate that Google is brought in because it is good PR, and Oracle, well, it sounds like healthcare.gov backend is running something like 4-6 node RAC (most probably Exadata). Good luck to them as they would really need it :)
Google SREs have a lot of experience managing very complex systems with very little downtime. There're certain architectural patterns and practices you can use if you want to keep a large distributed website highly-available.

Oracle I'd imagine is there for expertise with specific technologies.

Also, it's worth remembering that these are specific engineers who volunteered, and not their employers. So a lot is really who was willing to do it.

In light of recent events, I do have to wonder what their motive is to lend assistance. Kickbacks? Future contracts? A promise not to embarrass their corporate officers with information snagged by the NSA?
My guess is checks. Very large checks.