Blackberry Maker Plans Atlanta Data Center

Research in Motion (RIMM) is building a large data center in the Atlanta area to expand capacity for the e-mail network for its Blackberry mobile devices, according to local media. The company has acquired 40 acres of land in Alpharetta, and is building a 200,000 square foot data center at the site, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle (subscription).

The new facility continues an expansion of RIM's data center infrastructure beyond its home base of Waterloo, Ontario. The Blackberry e-mail network suffered a network outage in February 2008 that left its 12 million North American users offline for hours, prompting criticism that the company was overly reliant on data centers in Waterloo that handled all its North American messaging traffic.

Last June Research in Motion bought a 150,000 square foot data center in Plano, Texas to expand provide network diversity that may help avert future service outages. Texas is a popular site for backup data centers because the state has its own power grid.

Alpharetta is home to numerous large data centers, including facilities for HP, IBM, UPS, and CIT Group. The Research in Motion data center will reportedly include 50,000 to 60,000 square feet of raised-floor space.