Microsoft has deployed a Dell-built modular data center in Boulder, Colorado, to perform image processing for its Bing Maps service. The "microsite" will process images for the areal and satellite view options.

Brad Clark, group program manager for Bing Maps imagery technologies at Microsoft, said the goal of the project was to build a cost-effective and efficient microsite that pushed technological boundaries.

"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," Clark said in a statement.

The data center is an outdoor solution optimized for power, space, network connectivity and workload performance. It uses an evaporative cooling system and can deliver Power Usage Effectiveness rating of 1.03.

InfiniBand networking solutions were provided by Mellanox.

Microsoft has its own modular data enter technology, which it uses to build its latest-generation data centers. The design is based on ITPAC modules, which are pre-manufactured and delivered to data center sites around the world.

The two companies have a history of deploying modular data centers together. Microsoft's infamous mega facility in Chicago is filled with Dell's previous-generation data center modules housed in shipping containers.