The data center is now officially portable. At the Gartner Data Center Conference, IBM announced that the IBM Portable Modular Data Center (PMDC) is now on sale. Essentially computers packed into industry-standard shipping containers, they will be available in three sizes in order to fit all requirements. The smallest PMDC measures 8 feet by 20 feet, while 40 feet and 53 feet long variants are also available.

Of course, IBM is hardly the first company to pack servers into a container. It is however, the first to sell them. The PMDC will come in three basic configurations, focusing either on IT systems, mechanical and electrical systems, or a combination of both. In an IT-only configuration, IBM says that about 20 standard racks can be supported with full cooling and fire suppression systems. Such a setup will of course mean that a separate PMDC will be required to provide UPS system and generators.

Alternatively, a combination PMDC can be configured in a single container, but at the expense of lesser space for IT-centric systems.  Steven Sams, Vice President of Site and Facilities for IBM Global Technology Services, told eWEEK that the PMDCs are designed to be turnkey solutions. Just furnish chilled water or conditioned power and they're ready to go, he noted.

What's more, using an IBM PMDC does not mean that customers are restricted to IBM-only servers. On this, Sams says, "[They have] open architecture: We can plug and play components from all of the major UPS, cooling, etc. vendors globally ensuring that each container is the best for the specific customer requirements."

For more on this story:
- check out this article at eWeek

Related Articles:
Microsoft means business with Azure
Organizations open to hotter data centers
Google: We will complete stalled data centers
Data centers: Growth or stagnation