The already-crowded container-based data center market has just gotten a little bit more busy: Cisco this week unveiled its long-awaited entry into the market, its Containerized Data Center (CDC).

The CDC, which is built into a 40-foot shipping container structure, promises the usual features: Quick setup time: Cisco estimates it can set up a new compute center within 12 weeks of ordering; as many as 16 racks of space, at 25 kilowatts per rack; and a comprehensive management tool, Cisco's new Data Center Operations 360.

Cisco is also touting the container's energy efficiency, with a PUE of 1.25 or lower, which Cisco compares favorably to a hypothetical 1.6 to 3.0 for other data center solutions. The CDC also uses a chilled-water cooling system, mounted in the floor of the container rather than above the racks.

"In conjunction with our extensive partner base, Cisco is able to offer the industry's most comprehensive standards-based data center portfolio," Brad Boston, senior vice president, Global Government Solutions Group, said in a statement. "The Containerized Data Center delivers the scalability, agility, efficiency and productivity that our customers require."

One of those partners, NetApp, explained what's driving the growth of the containerized and energy-efficient data center market -- a market that Pike Research estimates will be worth $42 billion by 2015.

"Many of our federal government customers find value in moving from fixed facilities to a modular alternative that can be transported, redeployed, and easily modified to suit changing data center needs in the field," Mark Weber, president of U.S. Public Sector for NetApp, said in a statement.

The growth of the modular data center market -- though predicted by some research firms to slow in the coming years -- has been driven by the growing demand for data centers from companies that lack the technical expertise for the complicated nature of building data centers.

Modular data centers harness the expertise of companies like Cisco or its competitors in the market, streamlining the number of decisions that companies need to make to get their facilities online. Working from a modular template also allows OEMs to design for maximum energy efficiency in products like the CDC.

More information about the Containerize Data Center is available on Cisco's website.