You’ve got to check out these photos. They’re mockups of Sun’s usage scenarios for its upcoming data center in a box. Sun thinks the 8 x 8 x 20 shipping containers could be deployed next to wind turbines, on the rooftops of skyscrapers, in the middle of oil rigs – and on Mars.
On a more serious note, Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz blogged about his vision for the Blackbox:
It’s a fail-in-place data center in which fault tolerant parts don’t require ongoing support from on-site technicians.
It’s highly portable and can be shipped via “trains, trucks, ships, even heavy lift helicopters” to wherever power is cheapest.
Its built in GPS system can be tracked via Google Maps. Onboard sensors know if the Blackbox has been moved. Sun is exploring camouflage options, but declined to assist when a customer asked for his container to detonate if it’s breached.
Rich Miller asks if the Blackbox is a game changer; I think so. As for whether it’s a niche product, I’ll quote my good friend and old colleague Mario Rodriguez at Righteous Software: we’ll have to wait and see what happens.
PS – Here is a recap on the Blackbox media coverage from earlier this week.
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