Cisco launched its Cisco Containerized Data Center on Monday
aimed at enterprises that need a quick, flexible, and mobile data
center.
The new Containerized Data Center is targeted to network
customers who need a fast and flexible way to expand, complement,
or replace traditional brick and mortar data centers, Cisco
said.
Cisco follows the likes of Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Dell, Microsoft,
and Oracle that already offer portable data centers. These mobile
data centers are typically 20- to 40-foot containers packed with
networking equipment that can easily be transported and modified
with different components according to a client's needs.
"In this modular space and by building the containerized data
center, we can differentiate and deploy different systems to
different scales and equipment and combinations, so we have the
flexibility to create more personalized data centers for
customers," said Brian Koblenz, CTO for modular datacenters at
Cisco, in an interview.
Cisco's Containerized Data Center, the first in a series of
modular data center products that Cisco plans to offer, is a
40-foot, ISO-standard steel shipping container with 16 data center
racks (eight on each side), each supporting 25 KWh of power. The
data center are has a chilled water cooling system situated at the
bottom of the container. Other portable data center's cooling
systems are located above the servers, which creates a potential
hazard for the equipment if the water leaks, according to
Koblenz.
Cisco's new portable data centers can be used by government and
commercial organizations for rapid deployment of mobile computing,
disaster recovery, war zones, and support in remote areas, but they
are can also be used as a complimentary data center for any
organization. Industries Cisco is seeing a demand for these
portable data centers include healthcare, oil and gas, education,
and various aspects of government including the military.
During the economic downturn, Cisco saw many customers looking
for a cost-effective and flexible data storage solution, said Keith
Siracuse, manager and product marketing engineer at Cisco.
"To build traditional data center it takes a long time in terms
of planning and approval, as well as getting capital for the
buildings," Siracuse said in an interview. "This technology fits a
more dynamic market model than the traditional brick and mortar
data center and the recent economic downturn pushed folks to look
into it more."
The Cisco container includes the Cisco Data Center Operations 360,
which monitors rack temperature and offers real-time monitoring and
historical reports for analysis. The software enables users to set
the desired temperature range for each rack and it automatically
adjusts fan speeds and water flow accordingly.
With power consumption an increasing concern with data centers,
Cisco promotes the Containerized Data Center's power savings
compared with more traditional data centers. It's data center has a
power usage efficiency (PUE) of less than 1.25, whereas brick and
mortar data centers typically have a PUE of 1.6 to 3.0. The lower
the PUE, the more effective power is delivered to IT equipment and
at a lower cost.
While Cisco created its portable data center to house its own
products, its open platform allows users to utilize other
technologies. Once an order is placed for the data center, it takes
between 72 to 120 days to implement, Cisco says.