The days of having your computer room just down the hall are quickly waning. Perhaps one of the most dynamic areas within the IT industry is the evolution of the data center in terms of emerging technologies and service delivery models. Imagine if in 1999 someone predicted that the future of data centers would reside in what we today call the Cloud. What would you have thought about that prediction? In many respects, the trend is coming full circle.

In the 1960s and ‘70s companies needing mainframe computing power bought time from “Data Processing Centers”. In the 1980s many companies found it more economical to bring their computing needs in-house as “mini-computers” and PC networks came into their own. During the 1990s the concept of co-location became popular (housing computing resources in a third-party data center). Now, the newest trend to catch fire is to take the data center virtual by distributing the organization’s computing requirements via the Cloud. At least that is what major players in the IT industry are banking on and in a big way.

“SAN JOSE, USA: Telecom networking equipment vendor Cisco unveiled its containerized data centre, becoming the latest to join the fray of portable data centre vendors. Designed and manufactured in the United States, the containerized data centre is a modular data centre in a weatherized ISO container that offers an open architecture and transportable platform coupled with a management platform for data centre deployments. Cisco is working with VMware, EMC and NetApp to deliver cloud computing, storage, virtualization and Cisco data center capabilities based on Cisco Unified Computing System.”

“HP POD is a mobile data centre, available in 20-foot or 40-foot containers. According to the company, this container data centre will bring scalable, flexible and secure infrastructure to support new business growth. The company claims that it can globally deliver a POD in just six weeks from the day of receipt of the order. HP expects the new offering to find market in telecom, HPC, defense, disaster recovery and other sectors.”

IBM TO BRING ITS 'DATA-CENTRE-IN-A-BOX' TO INDIA - JANUARY 13, 2011(7)

“NEW DELHI, INDIA: Storage provider IBM is all set to showcase its portable modular data centre (PMDC), a compact, portable, fully functional and high-density capable data centre ‘in-a-box’ in India on Friday. The box is specifically designed for organizations requiring immediate additional computing capacity and IBM says that its can be built within 12-14 weeks. Housed within a standard ISO (International Standard Organization) shipping container, the PMDC is a fully customizable, insulated and environmentally sealed containers that can be designed, built, shipped and deployed into any environment. The company claims that unlike similar competitive offerings, IBM’s PMDC solution supports multiple vendor technologies. Moreover, it reduces energy consumption by as much as 50 per cent compared to accommodating IT systems within a traditional data centre facility.”

“Computing giant Dell is deploying a fleet of 10 data centers around the world to host cloud computing services for customers, the company said today. The company plans to invest $1 billion to launch and market cloud offerings that will commence with email archiving and a hosted virtual desktop offering. Dell’s move is the latest sign of the rapidly-shifting cloud computing landscape, in which the world’s largest hardware vendors are now rolling out public cloud platforms powered by their servers and software. Most of the new data centers will feature Dell’s modular data center design, a streamlined container-style unit that can house up to 12 racks, enough for 756U of server capacity. “

No your eyes aren’t playing tricks; you are seeing cargo-like containers turned into data centers. In a way, you might say thinking “out-of-the-box” resulted in data centers in-a-box.

Imagine warehouses filled with these modular data centers (MDCs). Now imagine each container being connected and geographically dispersed throughout the Cloud to other MDCs. The possibilities are endless. Filling a cargo and cargo-like container with computer equipment is one thing; making them amazingly powerful and self-contained is something altogether different. And what makes this concept so intriguing and attractive to IBM, Sun, HP, Microsoft, Dell, CISCO and others entering the fray? Consider the following advantages:

To get an idea how much capacity can be housed in a MDC, imagine deploying one of Sun’s “blackbox” units with the following capacity(3):

The concept has been floating around since about 2007. The hope is that MDCs will provide a cost-effective alternative to traditional brick-and-mortar data centers. More power, smaller footprint, faster deployment, energy efficiency and lower costs are persuasive and compelling arguments in favor of the MDC approach. There can be no doubt that MDCs represent a new data center paradigm; especially for use by Cloud-based data center providers. Imagine a data center on wheels (2), or an entire array of these MDCs floating at sea (1). Where this technology will lead is yet to be seen. However, with the size of the players in this space it is reasonable to conclude that a new day has dawned for data centers.

Data Center Developments: Enter the Cloud via MDC