Floating a datacentre business.....

...or selling one's customers down the river?

In the heady days of Web 1.0, when getting space for Web Hosting datacentres was like finding Unicorns, the prospect was sometimes mooted of Floating Datacentres - I know of one project study that looked at putting them on those large barges that ply many waterways (The one I recall was on the Hudson in New York).

Well, in a deja-vu all over again moment they're back - Ars Technica reports on the Floating Hosting 2.0 plan.

A new Silicon Valley startup called International Data Security (IDS) has sent some big waves through the data storage industry by announcing (PDF) its intent to set up a fleet of data-serving cargo ships. These floating data centers will come equipped not only with standard storage services like SAN (Storage Area Network) and NAS (Network Attached Storage), but also with amenities such as private offices, overnight accommodations, and galley services.

I personally liked the (only semi facetious) model we came up with at the time of having joint datacentre / casino ships (like the Mississippi paddle-wheel steamers of old, where you gambled as thet gambolled along).

The issues, I suspect they will find, are scalability and connectivity. Maintaining redundancy in big bandwidth connectivity in harbours requires quite a bit of new pipework (unless harbours have got into the datapipe biz in the last 5 years). Also, the incremental space - these are 20,000 sq feet per ship - is a drop in the ocean datacentre wise, so its a lot of Hassle Per Square Foot.

Its more another swallow that shows Bubble 2.0 is on its way.....I am now eagerly awaiting WebVan 2.0