Would You Like That Data Center To Go?

Rackable Systems, which has been making a name for itself as a provider of energy-conscious servers (sold mainly direct), is touting the first sale of a brand-new technology platform that it is positioning as a "mobile data center." (Read, data center in a truck.)

The product (if you can call it that), called Concentro, comes in a 40 foot by 8 foot shipping container that can hold up to 1,200 Rackable DC-powered servers (or 9,600 cores) or support 3.5 petabytes of storage. The initial offering uses Intel Xeon quad-core processors. There are UPS and cooling systems built directly into the container. The company has sold the initial deployment to an unnamed Internet service provider.

In my mind, Concentro addresses two perplexing challenges associated with data center solutions: space and heat.

First, to the latter issue: Rackable claims that Concentro reduces cooling and air handler power costs by up to 80 percent compared with traditional data centers. Concentro lets you "chase cheap power, chase cheap land," says Colette LaForce, vice president of marketing for Rackable.

LaForce and Conor Malone, who is the director of data center solutions for Rackable, declined to disclose how much Concentro costs, saying it depends entirely on the configuration. One thing they will say, however, is that it will cost substantially less than the alternative.

"The customer won't be paying for flexibility," Malone says.

Basically, once the container is configured, you're supposed to be able to add the power supply, networking connectivity and, voila, instant data center. At least that's the theory.

As to space, you can see why a company that is overflowing its cubicles might find this a compelling option. Or why a business that wants to optimize the availability of power supply, no matter where its headquarters happens to be based, might find this configuration interesting.

And while Rackable's sales model is direct, its approach certainly puts a new twist on the concept of mobility and on business continuity. Think a hurricane is coming? Why not drive it away? Is there any reason why a solution provider focused on the data center world shouldn't be looking at a similar option. How about all you blade mavens out there?

One final thought, the Rackable execs say security hasn't been overlooked in the Concentro design. Not only is the outside pretty non-descript, but GPS tracking and wireless security built into each container (so someone can't realistically drive away with your data center, although that would be kind of neat "Mission Impossible" plot). The truck contains a sort of air-lock vestibule area that protects the equipment from within from the elements like water or sand or maybe even snow.

What do you think of the Rackable approach? E-mail your thoughts to me at [email protected].