IBM invests $400 million in virtualised cloud computing centre

The company says it will spend $360 million to build its most sophisticated data centre yet in Research Triangle Park (RTP), North Carolina – providing businesses with access to immense pools of Internet-scale computing. The centre will harness high density computing and use virtualisation technology to reduce energy costs by running multiple software applications on the same servers. It’s all part of IBM’s Project Big Green, aimed at improving energy efficiency in the data centre, and involves renovating a building, re-using 95% of its shell, and creating what Big Blue describes as “one of the most technologically advanced and energy efficient data centres in the world”. IBM also claims that the centre’s mechanical system design is 50% more efficient than the industry average, resulting in a reduction of approximately 31,799 tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. Meanwhile, IBM’s new cloud computing centre in Tokyo, Japan – just unveiled – is aimed at large businesses, universities and government agencies, providing access to cloud computing experts. It will soon be linked to the new Raleigh centre and IBM’s seven other cloud centres throughout the world, to help clients pilot cloud infrastructures and applications globally. Willy Chiu, vice president, IBM High Performance On Demand Solutions, says: “These two new IBM centres are the manufacturing plants of services and information delivery of the future… Cloud computing is fundamentally about re-engineering the world’s computing infrastructure, to enable game-changing – even life-changing – applications. To IBM, cloud computing is much more than the normal evolution of a data centre.”