IBM launches portable modular data centre

Sam Varghese
Wednesday, 13 October 2010 21:16

Business IT - Technology

Global tech services giant IBM launched its portable modular data centres at a roadshow in Brisbane today, the second stop on a tour around the Asia-Pacific region.

The data centre is housed in a 6-1-metre standard ISO shipping container and hence can be used in any country, according to David Yip, IBM's ANZ leader for sites and facilities services.

The PMDC was first put on display in Perth; from Brisbane it is set to go to other countries in the region, Yip said. The two Australian venues were chosen as they represent the two centres where the mining and other resources industries are concentrated, industries that are seen as the most likely to invest in the product.

The data centre is aimed at companies that need a data centre that can be moved from place to place, that can provide security from both natural and man-made threats and offer total control over one's data.

In one sense, it is a step away from the much-hyped cloud; in another sense, it provides the client with its very own cloud, removing the one problem that dogs such services - fear over who is in control of one's data.

The concept of the PMDC has been developed by IBM; the actual hardware is sourced from a number of partners in Australia and customised according to the client's needs, Yip said.

"We think this is the right time to launch the product locally," he said, adding that the company had scored a couple of deals in the last few months.

Any standard rackmount servers can be fitted inside the container and so can any other standard equipment. Yip said the additional infrastructure for the PMDC, such as cooling, power, UPSs, cabling, and physical security could all be provided, depending on the customer's needs.

And, he added (with a smile), if a customer wanted IBM's servers, the company had absolutely no objection to supplying those as well. However, he pointed out that in a majority of cases, clients used the PMDCs to house their own hardware.

 

David Yip and Brian Canney