Colt starts countdown for "project verne" green data centre

Colt, the instant new-build data center guys I wrote about way back when, have started a countdown clock for "Project Verne" at http://tomorrowsdatacentre.com/. The company will be shipping 500 square meters of its Modular Data Centre (MDC) to Iceland to go into Verne Global's Iceland data center.

An MDC is a building block-style structure made of standardized components to build a data center within an unfinished space or building, complete with power, cooling, fire suppression, diverse cable runs, and security. Roll into any large space, bolt together, plug in the parts, and voila! Instant data center, pre-engineered with hot and cold aisles -- just add servers and wiring.

A customized version of Colt's MDC is being shipped to Verne to take advantage of Iceland's temperate climate since "free, fresh air" cooling is available year round. The Verne Global Iceland site will take advantage of Iceland's blend of renewable power, a 100 percent blend of geothermal and hydroelectric. Further, Verne boasts of a modern power grid less than a decade old supplying the facility and has signed a long-term agreement that guarantees low energy pricing. Customers can be offered a low, "inflation-protected" rate on power for up to 20 years.

Manufacturer and construction time for the first data center space pegged to be less than four (4) months, due to Colt's modular approach. One presumes that once the Colt countdown clock goes to zero on "Project Verne," the world will be able to track the movement of the modular data center parts from port to port, then over land, and finally being assembled on site.

To expand, Verne will be able to add additional data center space on an as-needed basis by simply calling up Colt and ordering more modules until it runs out of empty space to put them in. The green data center firm doesn't specify exactly how much space is available for build out on its website, but its Iceland facility is on the site of the former Keflavik Naval Air Station. Verne has a picture on its website which suggests several large warehouse-type buildings may be available.

Connectivity to the site is provided by at least three major fiber optical cables with capacities measured in terabytes. Connections times to London and Paris are at around 20 milliseconds and to New York at 41 milliseconds. Faster speeds may be available once the Emerald Atlantis cable is turned up in late 2012; the project is putting in the latest technology on an optimized cable route to deliver "optimized trans-Atlantic low latency" with 100G speeds per fiber.

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