Apple N.C. data center for cloud computing?
If you have wondered what that huge Apple data center in North Carolina is all about, you’re not alone. The newest speculation has Apple building the new center to get in on cloud computing.
Through all the reporting that was done about the selection process, the tax breaks, and the little North Carolina town that Apple finally selected for its new data center, there was not much chatter about what the center would be used for, or how much data storage could be built for a billion dollars. One onlooker, an expert in data centers, believes that such a center would be perfectly suited for cloud computing.
Rich Miller, editor of Data Center Knowledge, thinks that Apple may be building a data center that will rival those maintained by Google, and which may indeed be one of the largest in the world. In an interview with Cult of Mac, as reported by AppleInsider, Miller said that the half-million-square-foot center that would be the likely result of a billion dollar investment like this one would make an excellent cloud computing center.
Miller went on to say, “In the past several years we’ve seen a handful of new facilities that are redefining the scope of modern data centers. These include Microsoft’s new facility in Chicago, the SuperNAP in Las Vegas and the Phoenix ONE co-location center in Phoenix. All of these facilities house at least 400,000 square feet of space. These data centers are designed to support an enormous volume of data, and reflect the acceleration of the transition to a digital economy. All those digital assets – email, images, video and now virtual machines – drive demand for more and larger data centers.”
Further, he feels that the location chosen offers more in terms of scale and economy, and less for connectivity. Apple seem to have selected a place where they could build the largest possible facility for a given amount of money, above all else. Those factors also weigh in on the side of the North Carolina operation being a cloud computing facility.
Of course, if that is the purpose for the data center, it remains to be seen exactly what Apple will do with such an operation. The closest that they have come to cloud computing is their MobileMe service, which offers email, appointment, and a variety of desktop applications to the mobile user through a Web interface. MobileMe would not seem to provide a good reason for something as big as what Apple is doing in North Carolina. This entire situation could provide a lot of grist for a brand-new Apple rumor mill…
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August 20th, 2009
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