Sun Unveils 'Data Center In A Box'

So that's what Jonathan Schwartz was talking about. Sun Microsystems is introducing an energy-efficient, water-cooled turnkey data center housed in a shipping container that can be quickly deployed to expand existing IT infrastructure. An official unveiling will take place today, but Sun gave an early preview to John Markoff of the New York Times and CNet. The company isn't commenting on whether its new product is related to a November 2005 report by PBS tech pundit Robert X. Cringley of a data center in a container sighted at Google. The system is planned for commercial availability in the second half of 2007, with prices beginning around $500,000. An excerpt:

Sun's concept envisions the containerized data centers being deployed quickly in warehouse space to provide quick expansion for rapidly-throwing IT infrastructure. The units might be of particular interest to companies transitioning to new data centers, or those who reach capacity at their existing data center before a new one is completed.

"We are targeting customers who are concerned about saving space, power and getting to market quickly," said Schwartz. Sun is leasing the units as well as selling them. The possibility of delays at some of the many "greenfields" new construction projects could make this appealing to customers.

It's not completely plug-n-play, however. The "data center in a box" requires chilled water to support the cooling system, in addition to Internet connectivity and appropriate power infrastructure. Markoff's story notes that the prototype "sits in a container case adjacent to a Sun office building here (Menlo, Park, Calif.), connected to two large fire hoses for water cooling and 500 kilowatts of redundant power."

As has been discussed often here, some data center managers have deep reservations about water cooling, and the fire hoses are bound to give these folks a major case of the willies. But Sun's new offering extends the boundaries of the data center universe, and give additional options to managers of fast-growing enterprises.

The CNet story notes, correctly, that the concept of containers for server equipment is not new. "If they're thinking they invented it, they're wrong," Jerald Murphy, a Robert Francis Group analyst, told CNet's Steven Shankland, who said he designed shipping container-based computer systems for customers six years ago.