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The MobiRack Source: Rackable |
Rackable Systems has announced a portable datacenter that can be easily moved around and plugged into a regular wall outlet, but still is fully contained with all the hardware needed for a mini-datacenter.
The MobiRack server, released yesterday, can hold from five to 16U worth of hardware. Rackable’s rack mounted computers are half-depth compared to other rack-mounted servers, making them only 15.5 inches deep.
The enclosures offer a variety of configurations, starting with a choice of Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) and AMD (NYSE: AMD) processors. With the 16U system, it’s possible to hold eight 2U servers with a dual socket Xeon or Opteron processor and five 3.5-inch or 10 2.5-inch drives for up to 40TB of storage.
All of the enclosures support AC power supplies and the larger configurations also support DC power infrastructures, including battery backups and rectifiers.
The MobiRack is entirely self-contained, with full port access on each server in the front of the unit instead of the back, so it can be flushed against a wall. It combines servers, storage, networking, UPS and DC power distribution in one unit.
“Our target market would be one where mobility is the key value proposition, so any kind of office or field deployment would be the ideal range of markets. Places where people need a lot of compute power at their disposal without the mobility problems of fixed datacenters,” Saeed Atashie, director of server products for Rackable (NASDAQ: RACK), told InternetNews.com.
Atashie said the MobiRack would offer much greater compute density over blades in a small space, and the MobiRack can work where there is only DC power, something blades don’t do. Plus, he said the MobiRack is more economical. “Some of the pricing on the blade side is quite high,” he said.
Rackable did not release prices, noting the MobiRack is available in a wide variety of configurations.