• The Four Hundred
  • Subscribe
  • Media Kit
  • Contributors
  • About Us
  • Contact
Menu
  • The Four Hundred
  • Subscribe
  • Media Kit
  • Contributors
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Data Center Count Shrinks As The Big Get Bigger

    October 15, 2012 Timothy Prickett Morgan

    So how many data centers, server rooms, and data closets do you think there are in the United States? You guess maybe 20,000? Maybe 100,000? Try 2.94 million, at least according to the box counters at IDC.

    This is a much larger number than you might expect, and considering there are tens of millions of small businesses in the U.S., maybe you were guessing the number should be larger. But I was surprised that the number was more than a couple hundred thousand myself, assuming that most businesses did as I did for many years, which is tuck a server under their desk, or what I do now, which is use hosted servers and let someone else manage the security and backup nightmares.

    According to research done by IDC, the Great Recession caused a mini-wave of consolidation, with companies closing thousands of remote locations with their own server rooms and data closets. In 2009, the number of data centers dropped by seven-tenths of a point even as the aggregate data center capacity installed in that smaller number of data centers fells by 1 point. And this trend is continuing as the great Recession lingers on (government statistics notwithstanding). IDC says that the 2.94 million data centers in use in 2012 had a total capacity of 611.4 million square feet of floor space, and even as the number of data centers is expected to continue to shrink to 2.89 million by 2016, the aggregate floor space in those data centers is expected to rise to 700 million square feet.

    Ironically, server virtualization has kept the floor space requirements from rising as fast as many might have projected, but storage requirements are exploding–some might say are out of control–and that is driving up floor space needs.

    The other big shift is toward service providers and away from corporate-owned data centers as companies embrace “the cloud.” IDC is projecting that by 2016, more than a quarter of the data center floor space in the United States will be owned by service providers.

    RELATED STORIES

    Custom Baby Data Centers Coming from Big Blue

    IBM Crams Data Centers Into Shipping Containers, Too

    IBM Helps Partners Learn New Data Center Skills

    HP Jumps Into Containerized Data Centers, Too

    IBM Is Enjoying the Role of Green Giant

    Microsoft to Build Giant Data Center from Containerized Gear

    Sun Formally Launches Project Blackbox Data Centers

    How To Build a Green Data Center

    Rackable Builds Data Centers in Shipping Containers, Too

    Sun to Deliver Self-Contained “Blackbox” Data Centers

    Disaster Recovery in a Truck Unveiled by IBM, Cisco



                         Post this story to del.icio.us
                   Post this story to Digg
        Post this story to Slashdot

    Share this:

    • Reddit
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Email

    Tags:

    Sponsored by
    ARCAD Software

    Embrace VS Code for IBM i Development

    The IBM i development landscape is evolving with modern tools that enhance efficiency and collaboration. Ready to make the move to VS Code for IBM i?

    Join us for this webinar where we’ll showcase how VS Code can serve as a powerful editor for native IBM i code and explore the essential extensions that make it possible.

    In this session, you’ll discover:

    • How ARCAD’s integration with VS Code provides deep metadata insights, allowing developers to assess the impact of their changes upfront.
    • The role of Git in enabling seamless collaboration between developers using tools like SEU, RDi, and VS Code.
    • Powerful extensions for code quality, security, impact analysis, smart build, and automated RPG conversion to Free Form.
    • How non-IBM i developers can now contribute to IBM i projects without prior knowledge of its specifics, while ensuring full control over their changes.

    The future of IBM i development is here. Let ARCAD be your guide!

    Watch Now

    Share this:

    • Reddit
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Email

    Spinnaker Offers JD Edwards Reporting Tool from ReportsNow EMC and IBM Extend Pact, Unveil New IBM i Storage Technology

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Volume 21, Number 37 -- October 15, 2012
THIS ISSUE SPONSORED BY:

BCD
T.L. Ashford
ASNA
Linoma Software
Adsero Optima

Table of Contents

  • IBM Carves Out Upgrade Paths To New Power7+ Systems
  • IBM Adds A Bunch Of I/O Devices To Power Systems
  • IBM i Workloads Now Supported On IBM Private Cloud Software
  • As I See It: Chasing The Impulse
  • Big Blue Pits PureData Appliance Against Ellison’s Exadata
  • What Happens In Vegas . . . Comes Back To The Office
  • Data Center Count Shrinks As The Big Get Bigger
  • Vital To The i: The Thirst of Youth
  • Employment Up! IT Jobs Down?
  • IBM Punts New PureFlex Racks, Offers PDU Deal

Content archive

  • The Four Hundred
  • Four Hundred Stuff
  • Four Hundred Guru

Recent Posts

  • Liam Allan Shares What’s Coming Next With Code For IBM i
  • From Stable To Scalable: Visual LANSA 16 Powers IBM i Growth – Launching July 8
  • VS Code Will Be The Heart Of The Modern IBM i Platform
  • The AS/400: A 37-Year-Old Dog That Loves To Learn New Tricks
  • IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 27, Number 25
  • Meet The Next Gen Of IBMers Helping To Build IBM i
  • Looks Like IBM Is Building A Linux-Like PASE For IBM i After All
  • Will Independent IBM i Clouds Survive PowerVS?
  • Now, IBM Is Jacking Up Hardware Maintenance Prices
  • IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 27, Number 24

Subscribe

To get news from IT Jungle sent to your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter.

Pages

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Contributors
  • Four Hundred Monitor
  • IBM i PTF Guide
  • Media Kit
  • Subscribe

Search

Copyright © 2025 IT Jungle