OK, probably going further out on a limb here but for some reason the idea came to my head and I thought it would be a funny concept.
With all these new things coming up around container based data centers, there still remains a problem that needs to be solved – where do you get the power, cooling and networking.
So I imagined a trailer park of sorts for data centers where companies could drive their container data centers(which can contain well over one thousand systems per container) and plug them in to a network jack and get power, and a water feed.
Data centers of the future may end up just being giant parking lots (above or below ground) with some sort of industrial grade easy to use connectors for plug and play containers. Maybe it goes even further and you are billed on just what you use automatically. A Ethernet jack or perhaps wireless connection at the site and you could authenticate to the facility and provision bandwidth, IP addresses, and plug in and turn on. The system would automatically meter the amount of water you draw, and perhaps even monitor the temperature of the return water feed (those that return it cooler will get charged less). And of course pay per kWH for power. Plus a flat rate fee for parking.
Maybe power companies, water treatment facilities(or other common water provider) and carriers team up to provide some sort of common standard or technique to provide this kind of service.
Then perhaps add in IPv6, I think I’ve read about it having some good IP mobility features, or maybe you just get some sort of BGP feed where you can advertise your own IPs.
Then say some disaster strikes like a hurricane or earthquake, the facility is robust enough to handle it, but maybe the infrastructure around it is destroyed, go pick up your container and take it to another lot.
By the time I got mid way through this post the concept in my mind sounded more feasable than it was when it first came to mind.