Dell shows off its new modular data center

From InfoWorld: Dell has been relatively quiet about its modular data-center products, but on Tuesday it showed off a new design it has started selling to large "hyperscale" customers, which include big Internet firms like Microsoft and Facebook.

The first modular data centers, including one shown by Dell two years ago, used standard shipping containers to house servers and other IT gear. The containers are sturdy, relatively cheap and highly portable, but some vendors have found them a little inflexible.

Dell's latest model does away with the container and instead houses 12 standard server racks in two rows within a steel skeletal structure, with a central aisle for servicing. Three or four of the structures can be "snapped" together depending on how much compute capacity is required, according to Dell.

The power and cooling units are also modular. The cooling units attach to the top of the structure and can be evaporative or water-based, depending on what works best in the local climate. A redundant power supply hooks onto the end.

"We're delivering these units in production to a few customers," said Steve Schuckenbrock, president of Dell's Large Enterprise group, who talked them up in a speech at VMworld in San Francisco.

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