A server, a rack, a row, thinking outside the box for the next scalable server unit brings us to the container. The Summer 2008 Premier IT magazine features an article (Containers Everywhere link to _http://ipip.intel.com/go/containers-everywhere/_) about the ICE Cube, a containerized data center built by Rackable Systems. Just published on June 1, the article describes a mobile data center that can accommodate up to 1,400 servers. But that's already out of date. On Monday, Rackable announced five new ultra-dense servers, one sku built specially for the ICE Cube that will double the number of servers in the 40-ft flavor to 2,800. That's a lot of compute power in a small space! I'll do the math...2,800 servers x 2 processors each x 4 cores per processor....that's 22,400 cores in something that looks as inconspicuous as a delivery truck.
Just how inconspicuous? And how performance packed? And can you still get around inside one? Check out this interview with Conor Malone of Rackable Systems at Data Center World 2008 for a peek inside the ICE Cube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWJNpKx8iOU.
The article specifically calls out areas in financial services, oil & gas and government that could immediately take advantage of the ICE Cube. It seems to me that easy plug and play deployment, power and space savings, and possibly even free (environmental) cooling are benefits that extend beyond just these three verticals....where else does this solution make sense? Could containerized solutions fit into your IT strategy? What do you suppose everyone is waiting for?
Conor Malone with Rackable Systems teamed up with our own Anthony Tarabini (Intel) & TechRepublic last week to discuss the ICE Cube - you can watch a replay of the webcast here.
For more information on the new servers, here's a blog that I found on www.eweek.com: http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Infrastructure/Rackable-to-Seed-the-Cloud/. I also caught up with Ben from Rackable Systems at the Intel Premier IT Professional Event in Denver on June 26th, check out this video of thier newest server, the XE2004. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0j00JUOWx0
And if you're thinking about deploying containerized solutions and have some remaining questions, add them here. We've got some tech experts who may have just the answers you are looking for.
Intel Premier IT Professional Zone
Thanks Megan, looking forward to any questions people may have about the ICE Cube.