Insurer Plans Data Center in Lansing, Mich.

Jackson National Life Insurance Co. is planning to build a $26 million data center at a site in Lansing, Mich., reports the Lansing State Journal. The new facility is designed for expansion and can "serve as a backup in case anything happens" to the company's primary data center at its headquarters, which is also in Lansing. The $21 million primary data center was completed in Jan. 2008.

Jackson National said it hasn't finalized a decision. The company is looking to local officials for $1.4 million in brownfield redevelopment funds for its proposed expansion into a 31,700 square foot former warehouse at 2005 Seager Street. Lansing officials want to keep the high-paying IT jobs in town, and are keen to redevelop the warehouse site, which was previously occupied by a trucking company.

The project would undoubtedly be good for Lansing, but raises a familiar question: how much distance is needed between a primary data center and a backup disaster recovery site? It looks like the proposed expansion site is about 12 miles from the company headquarters, where the paper says the primary site is housed.