Dell Modular Data Center Powering Bing Maps

Dell and Microsoft have developed a modular data center to server as a dedicated imagery processing site for Bing Maps, located on the grounds of a Microsoft facility in Boulder, Colorado. The data center module will support Streetside, Bird’s Eye, aerial and satellite image types provided by Bing Maps. High-speed Infiniband networking technology from Mellanox is key to the operation.

“Our goal was to push technological boundaries, to build a cost effective and efficient microsite,” said Brad Clark, Group Program Manager, Bing Maps Imagery Technologies (BITs), Microsoft Corp. “We ended-up with a no-frills high-performance microsite to deliver complicated geospatial applications that can in effect ‘quilt’ different pieces of imagery into a cohesive mosaic that everyone can access.”

The Bing Maps module uses a Dell cooling system employing fresh air with evaporative cooling technology to achieve w Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) as low as 1.03. “In working with Microsoft, we’ve been able to produce a highly innovative and cost effective microsite to house their world class imagery offerings,” said Roy Guillen, vice president and general manager, Data Center Solutions Group, Dell. “We saw an opportunity to push the envelope and we’ll be using this experience to continually drive even more efficiency for our customers.”

Here’s a time-lapse video showing the construction and deployment of the Dell modular data center at the Boulder site .

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About Rich Miller

Rich Miller is the founder and editor-in-chief of Data Center Knowledge, and has been reporting on the data center sector since 2000. He has tracked the growing impact of high-density computing on the power and cooling of data centers, and the resulting push for improved energy efficiency in these facilities.