Also called a modular data center or data center-in-a-box. A data center container is a method of deploying data centers that is designed to add data center capacity and to reduce an organization’s cooling and power consumption costs. The container refers to a modular, portable self-contained environment that can be shipped and deployed. The container is portable, so it can be relocated or deployed in non-traditional data centers, such as urban spaces. A data center container is also faster to deploy than a traditional data center.
Examples of a Data Center Container
An example of a container is HP’s Performance Optimized Datacenters (PODs). It is a 40-foot shipping container with up to 22 racks of servers inside, pre-installed and ready to go. Container data centers have become popularized by vendors like Sun Microsystems and Rackable Systems and are considered to be a part of the modern data center.