Arnouse Digital Devices Corp (ADDC) is offering an “edge” data center in a rugged suitcase-sized container, which was originally designed for use in war or crisis zones by the US military. 

The Mobyl Data Center, designed in response to a US Department of Defense request for frontline warrior connectivity, uses credit card-sized servers to deliver a cloud based on VMware to troops deployed in areas where there is limited backhaul to primary military sites.

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Mobyl Data Center – ADDC

Hostile environments

Totally self-contained, the unit can be battery powered and support both wired and wireless connectivity. It holds up to 88 cores using Intel E3845 Xeon processors supporting a maximum of 176 GB of RAM, and 2.8 TB of SSD storage can be configured with space for an optional 12 TB of HDD storage. Fully configured the unit can run for 8 hours of maximum performance and up to a week of minimal use on a single set of hot swappable batteries.

 

The proprietary MobylDigital/Biodigital server cards are military grade hardened devices sealed in epoxy and rated for impact up to 300G, with an operating range of -40ºC to 110ºC. The range of BioDigital PC cards which can be used in the container extend from client PC x86 processors to server class systems.

The mobile data centers are currently in use in multiple roles, from the aforementioned warfighter combat information systems to units specifically configured as communications servers and one being used to run auditing systems for criminal investigations. The Mobyl data center cards can run Windows client and server, VMware 5.5, and many flavors of Linux including Red Hat Enterprise server, CentOS, and Ubuntu.

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BioDigital PC card 7  – ADDC

Arnouse told DatacenterDynamics that, following a suggestion from Wells Fargo bank, the product will be released for commercial applications in early Q4 2015. To reduce the capital expense of the technology, Arnouse suggests that the cards may be written down for tax purposes after a single year, then donated to non-profit organizations leaving the user free to upgrade to the next generation hardware. .

Arnouse is looking at two form factors for commercial deployment; one would be a secured case that could be placed in an existing office environment, removing the need for a dedicated server room, the second is a 2U rack mount for a standard 19 in data center racks that would allow high density installations. The servers are being positioned for use in situations where low and mid-range powered servers are the appropriate solution.