Synopsis

Microsoft's influence on the development of containerized data centre market has been evident over the past two years. The company will probably become a single largest user of this platform, possibly setting the trend for other companies in the cloud computing space.

The "Lego block" of data centres, containerization is now also mooted as the way forward in delivering server farms at low cost with efficient carbon reduction and power reduction. The containerized data centre platform features energy and cost efficient, modular designs that can be rapidly deployed and scaled to suit particular business needs. They provide an ability to deploy facilities at the same time as servers and are suitable for very specific implementations. Although a niche offering at present, with early adoption by government and research organisations, the report predicts a growing but very precisely defined market for these solutions.

Overall, while being a viable and functioning platform, containerized data centres also present a number of concerns identified and analysed in the report, including density, weight, power generation and other issues. Widespread adoption in traditional markets, and among enterprises may therefore be more limited given too the increasing interest in modular data centre designs.

This report presents a walk-through of current containerized designs and vendor offerings, but also offers a comparative analysis including costs, and a well considered discussion of the pro's and con's of containerization for the end user.

The report also suggests an opportunity for a hybrid solution, where organizations use both containerized units and traditional data centres concurrently to complement each other and capitalise on particular strengths and functional features. The report also suggests a number of niche market spaces where containerized data centres could be successfully leveraged.

For companies assessing containerization, this report will provide a ready template of all the issues that need to be assessed to determine the best opportunity technically and commercially for their businesses.

Who Should Buy The Report

• Data Centre Operators and Owners
• Telecommunication Service Providers
• Managed Service Providers
• Infrastructure Service Providers
• System Integrator Companies
• Cloud Computing Providers
• Equipment Vendors
• Software and Solutions Vendors
• Environmental Specialists
• Consulting Firms
• Investment and Property Companies
• Power and Energy Companies
• Government and Regulatory Bodies

Contents

1. Executive Summary 2. Research Methodology and Report Objectives 2.1 Methodology 2.2 Objectives 2.3 Markets Covered 3. Part I - Market Review 3.1 Market Definition 3.2 Microsoft's "Gen 4" Strategy 3.3 Market Participants 3.3.1 Containerized Data Centre manufacturers 3.3.2 Containerized Data Centre users 4. Part II - "Green" containerized data centres 5. Part III - Functional assessment of containerized data centre solutions 5.1 Facilities 5.2 Technology 5.3 Business 5.4 Conclusions 5.5 Recommendations Appendix A: COMPARISON OF CONTAINERIZED PLATFORMS Appendix B: Useful links

Tables and Figures

Figure 1:	Microsoft's Gen 4 data centre
Figure 2:	Outside view of APC InfraStruXure Express
Figure 3:	Inside view of APC InfraStruXure Express
Figure 4:	Google's Databarges concept
Figure 5:	Outside view of SUN "Blackbox"
Figure 6:	Inside view of SUN "Blackbox"�
Figure 7:	iDataPlex
Figure 8:	Outside view of IBM&s PMDC
Figure 9:	Outside view of Rackable's ICE Cube
Figure 10:	Inside view of Rackable's ICE Cube
Figure 11:	Rackable's MobiRack
Figure 12:	Design of Verari container
Figure 13:	Outside view of Verari's FOREST (I)
Figure 14:	Outside view of Verari's FOREST (II)
Figure 15:	Inside view of Verari's FOREST
Figure 16:	Airflow simulations in Verari's FOREST container
Figure 17:	Verari's BR2X
Figure 18:	Inside view of Dell's mobile data centre
Figure 19:	Outside view of Dell's mobile data centre
Figure 20:	Inside view of HP's POD
Figure 21:	Outside view of HP's POD
Figure 22:	Lampertz Outdoor Room
Figure 23:	Inside view of iFortress data centre
Figure 24:	Outside view of iFortress data centre
Figure 25:	Nortel's telecom container
Figure 26:	IDS' container ship data centre
Figure 27:	Inside view of Microsoft container data centre (I)
Figure 28:	Inside view of Microsoft container data centre (II)
Figure 29:	25' Cisco NoW data centre
Figure 30:	40' Cisco NoW data centre
Figure 31:	Wind-powered Verari container in Microsoft's Data Centre in Boulder, CO
Figure 32:	Economics of container data centres
Table1:	Application Service Classes
Table2:	Specifications of Verari's FOREST
Table3:	Mobile data centre comparison: size, weight and capacity
Table4:	Mobile data centre comparison: power and cooling
Table5:	Mobile data centre comparison: costs

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