APC by Schneider Electric is bringing its InfraStruxure power and cooling architecture to IBM’s containerized data center.
APC announced Jan. 11 that through an expanded partnership, IBM’s PMDC (Portable
Modular Data Center) can be ordered with the InfraStruxure products
already integrated. The APC offering includes everything from racks and
power supplies to cooling systems.
APC’s modular and scalable offering fits well with what IBM is doing with the PMDC, according to APC CTO Jim Simonelli.
“APC’s footprint in IBM’s modular data center offerings demonstrates
the adaptability of our solutions to meet customer demands in a variety
of business applications,” Simonelli said in a statement.
IBM in 2008 joined a growing number of vendors in
offering complete and portable data centers that could be housed in
standard shipping containers. While the idea of portable data centers
is not new, the idea got renewed life in 2006, when Sun Microsystems
introduced its Project Blackbox.
Click here to see some of the portable data centers available.
A number of OEMs later joined in, including Hewlett-Packard, Dell,
SGI and IBM. One of the last announcements Verari Systems made before
it began shutting down in December was the sale of a containerized data
center that included technologies from it and Cisco Systems.
Most of these data centers-in-a-box are fitted into standard 20- or
40-foot containers, though IBM and several other vendors say they will
customize their offerings.
Officials with several vendors said last year there was growing in
using containerized data centers, though analysts said any demand in
the market—which is still a small one—was tempered by the global
recession.
That could change as the economy improves, according to IDC, which
said that between 50 and 75 were sold in 2008. That number could grow
to 300 to 350 by 2013, according to IDC.
The containers are used to helps Web 2.0 companies and hosting
facilities quickly scale their compute capabilities, while giving
enterprises an option for such needs as temporary computing power and
disaster recovery. The self-contained data centers include everything
from the servers and networking to storage, power and cooling.
IBM’s announced its PMDC in 2008 and spent the next year offering it
in test and some production environments. The company made the
containerized data center generally available in December 2009.
IBM and APC have been working together since 2006, when IBM named
APC as a physical infrastructure provider for its SMDC (Scalable
Modular Data Center), and later as a key player in its HDZ (High
Density Zone) solution.
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