The instant new-build data center - by Doug Mohney

Views and Opinions on Green IT (Jul 15 2010)

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   This week Colt is crowing about how it is doing pre-builds of data center space as a faster clip and lower cost than a new-build data center.  It is also challenging the "current wisdom" of the containerized rapid deployment approach.

   Colt Modular Data Center (MDC) design uses pre-assembled components that are built on-site at a customer's space, offering a more flexible design than standard shipping containers.  Colt says that a modular approach will allow it to deliver turn-key facilities at a PUE of around 1.2 to customers in less than four months. 

   The MDC approach can be more densely packed than containers, since Colt starts with a 500 square meter building block that can be stacked  two high and spread out to fill as much space as one would have available within an empty building. A MDC design is assembled and tested at an approved factory before being transported and assembled at the final location within four months -- all you need is an empty warehouse and a checkbook.

   Colt already has one unannounced customer using its concept and is quick to emphasize it has been in the data center business for more than 15 years and currently operates 19 of its own data centers across Europe.

   Many companies are already on the data center container bandwagon, including IBM, HP, Google, and Microsoft; the U.S. military and certain government agencies love the concept since you can build a transportable data center, certify it as secure, then ship it to where you need it. 

   Google says it gets a PUE of 1.25 for its container data center design and keeps on throwing up patents for different container concepts, with the latest ones stacking containers four high and rows of containers attached to a centralized utility spine holding power, network connectivity, and cooling fluids.

   It will be interesting to see if other companies take a run at pre-assembled designs -- like the U.S. housing industry offers both trailers and modular-built homes -- as a more flexible and means for new-build data center than a from-scratch approach.  You might get better operational energy efficiency with a from-scratch custom build, but it isn't clear that would trump the savings in time and construction by simply finding an old warehouse and putting in a modular build. 

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