Sun Creates Portable Data Center That Fits Into a Storage Container
Sun Microsystems has created Project Blackbox, which it touts as the world's first virtualized datacenter that fits into a storage container.
Sun Microsystems has created Project Blackbox, which it touts as the world's first virtualized datacenter that fits into a storage container.
According to company materials, it is a build-once but deploy-anywhere datacenter that takes one-tenth of the time to deploy compared to its conventional counterparts. The 20-foot shipping containers can populate more than 250 Sun Fire servers configured for grid computing across seven racks, which are packed together tighter than what is possible in a traditional datacenter.
Its cooling system is 20 percent more efficient, Sun said. An eighth rack holds network switches, thermal management systems, dehumidifier and other controls. The container includes front and rear doors, central service aisle and slide mechanism for maintenance, as well as shock absorbers, alarms and global positioning device.
Project Blackbox is ideal for relief agencies to mobilize quickly, or for organizations that want to deploy their datacenters closer to cleaner, less expensive energy sources, the company said.
"Suffice it to say we have a very robust pipeline of interest," Greg Papadopoulos, Sun's chief technology officer, told Scientific American. "These are guys who are close to meltdown," because they can't add faster computers to their current systems without a way to exhaust the increased heat.
"We expected skepticism, and we got it," he said. "This is a radical concept in the data-center world. What we didn't expect, however, was to give a presentation and have people come up afterward saying, 'I need 10 of these tomorrow.'"
The containers are currently being used by Stanford University’s Linear Accelerator Program, Bloomberg reported in June. A rival product which can hold 1,200 servers also is sold by Rackable Systems of Fremont, Calif.
According to company materials, it is a build-once but deploy-anywhere datacenter that takes one-tenth of the time to deploy compared to its conventional counterparts. The 20-foot shipping containers can populate more than 250 Sun Fire servers configured for grid computing across seven racks, which are packed together tighter than what is possible in a traditional datacenter.
Its cooling system is 20 percent more efficient, Sun said. An eighth rack holds network switches, thermal management systems, dehumidifier and other controls. The container includes front and rear doors, central service aisle and slide mechanism for maintenance, as well as shock absorbers, alarms and global positioning device.
Project Blackbox is ideal for relief agencies to mobilize quickly, or for organizations that want to deploy their datacenters closer to cleaner, less expensive energy sources, the company said.
"Suffice it to say we have a very robust pipeline of interest," Greg Papadopoulos, Sun's chief technology officer, told Scientific American. "These are guys who are close to meltdown," because they can't add faster computers to their current systems without a way to exhaust the increased heat.
"We expected skepticism, and we got it," he said. "This is a radical concept in the data-center world. What we didn't expect, however, was to give a presentation and have people come up afterward saying, 'I need 10 of these tomorrow.'"
The containers are currently being used by Stanford University’s Linear Accelerator Program, Bloomberg reported in June. A rival product which can hold 1,200 servers also is sold by Rackable Systems of Fremont, Calif.