Intel Considering Portable Data Centers

miller60 writes "Intel has become the latest major tech company to express interest in using portable data centers to transform IT infrastructure. Intel says an approach using a "data center in a box" could be 30 to 50 percent cheaper than the current cost of building a data center. "The difference is so great that with this solution, brick-and-mortar data centers may become a thing of the past," an Intel exec writes. Sun and Rackable have introduced portable data centers, while Google has a patent for one and Microsoft has explored the concept. But for all the enthusiasm for data centers in shipping containers, there are few real-world deployments, which raises the question: are portable data centers just fun to speculate about, or can they be a practical solution for the current data center expansion challenges?"

Comments

How long before scammers discover these?

[djl4570]

I'm sure RBN would love "Datacenter in a Box." As soon as the authorities begin sniffing around the datacenter can be trucked somewhere else. How long before someone steals one and sells it on ebay.

Why it probably won't work

[Z80xxc!]

It seems to me that there would be too many hassles for this to ever work. The equipment in a data center is expensive, and that equipment doesn't usually like being jostled around in a truck, let alone bouncing around at sea for a while. Although in theory it's a great idea, I just don't see it ever really working out. Also, what about security? Data centers need good security. If it's so easily portable, then it wouldn't be that hard for someone to just take off with one, whereas you can't exactly stick a real data center on your getaway car. TFA suggests a warehouse to store the things in to address security and such, but doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose of having them be mobile?

Re:Why it probably won't work

[Feyr]

good points, and there's also the maintenance and upgrades to consider, unless you're google and you just replace the rack when more than a certain % is defective. for the majority of places, clustering is the exception, not the norm and you just cant leave 70% of your rack full of defective or outdated crap

consider minor faults too. do you replace the whole rack because a network cable went bad? i don't think so, and i don't want to be the one crawling around that shipping container stringing cat5

You're all missing the point

[Synthaxx]

This isn't about the datacenter, this is a stroke of genious.

You see, by closing the door, the actual data contained within' is either there or not there.

What they've done is run a network cable to that same box to check this, thereby solving one of the most fundamental questions of the universe!

Like i said, absolute genious!

Re:You're all missing the point

[youthoftoday]

Schrodinger's CAT5?

Play games with taxes and states, too

[timothy]

If you have a business which can be housed in a portable structure of any kind, it makes it more likely you can move it across a border (state or national) when that makes sense, or just seem inclined to do so if the local powermongers decide they want more (of your) pie.

Coal mines? Hard to do it.

Hospitals? Difficult.

Big factories? Tough.

Data centers? If built into containers or container-friendly, you can start packing now ;)

(On the other hand, it also means that data-centric companies can angle for that famous and annoying "corporate welfare" by flirting with various states and municipalities seeking better goodies like tax abatements, "free" infrastructure additions, etc.)

timothy