Microsoft Generation 4.0 Data Center Vision

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[Extracted from InfoWorld]:

  "Microsoft has come up with a faster, cheaper way to build its datacenters over the next five years, and it says other companies could use its methods too. Microsoft's approach, described by General Manager Michael Manos in a blog post Tuesday, uses a modular design in which standard units of computing, cooling, and electrical equipment are delivered to a facility on the back of a truck and assembled on site. The system, which Microsoft calls its "Generation 4" design, will allow its datacenters to become operational more quickly and cut the cost of building traditional, brick and mortar facilities."

"This is our vision and will be the foundation of our cloud data center infrastructure in the next five years. A highly modular, scalable, efficient, just-in-time data center capacity program that can be delivered anywhere in the world very quickly and cheaply, while allowing for continued growth as required. We believe it is one of the most revolutionary changes to happen to data centers in the last 30 years." (Michael Manos, General Manager responsible for global data center design, construction and ongoing operations for Microsoft’s online services)