Modular Data Center Project Near Completion

By DE Editors

Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Menlo Park, CA) recently introduced Project Blackbox, a modular datacenter targeting companies seeking rapid deployment of lights-out infrastructure. Project Blackbox packages compute, storage and network infrastructure, along with high-efficiency power and cooling, in standard modular shipping containers.  The Project Blackbox prototype, viewed by the company as the future of virtualized data centers, is designed to be deployed anytime and anywhere.

“Just about every CIO and startup I meet says they’re crippled by datacenter energy and space constraints—today’s solutions are clearly failing to meet the needs of Web 2.0,” said Jonathan Schwartz, CEO and president of Sun Microsystems. “Rather than trying to improve upon today’s datacenter, designed for people babysitting computers, Project Blackbox starts from the world’s most broadly adopted industry standard, the shipping container, and asks—how can we most efficiently create modular, lights-out datacenters from this base?”

The Solaris 10 Operating System is at the core of Sun’s virtualized infrastructure. Coupled with Sun server and storage technologies, one Blackbox can hold 250 Sun Fire servers, provide two petabytes of storage, or provide seven Terabytes of memory.

Project Blackbox, as envisioned and engineered today, is a pre-configured, fully contained datacenter, optimized for maximum density, performance, and efficiency, as well as recyclability.

The form factor and underlying technologies offer a range of potential new uses, including quick Web 2.0 build-outs, advanced military applications, bringing instant-on computing facilities to developing nations, oil exploration, and seismic modeling, and leveraging alternative energy sources.

Project Blackbox is currently in the late prototype phase. Availability is slated for mid-2007. More information on Project Blackbox is available by clicking here.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.