Although Epcot has a reputation for being Disney World's most boring park, it has always been my personal favorite, and with a new exhibit featuring a data center, it just got even cooler.

The exhibit is part of a cooperative effort between Disney and IBM involving IBM's Smarter Planet initiative.  It' s all designed to enhance public awareness of the intricacies of technology in our daily lives and around the world.  It has a green focus, and teaches tips about saving energy, like how beneficial it is to actually unplug appliances that aren't in use.

The data center part of the exhibit is an interesting step towards changing the way the public views the data center industry.  I can attest to the fact that the average college student doesn't even know what a data center is, and perhaps hasn't even heard of one.  Allowing visitors to explore the data center which makes the exhibit happen may not make a huge difference in society's general lack of knowledge about data centers, but it's a sign that a new way of looking at them may be in the works.  Instead of being sequestered away in a high-security complex, the modular data center involved is accessible, made educational and fun in the style of Epcot.

It's a remarkable data center in other ways than just in being open to the public, too.  It's much more energy-efficient than the average data center, highlighting IBM's focus on green initiatives.  On a scale of Data Center Infrastructure Efficiency, it measures 70%, compared with an industry average around 43% and plummeting as low as 28%.

If you haven't been to Disney World, now may well be the time to go.

See the CNET News article for more information, and the Computerworld article.

From an industry perspective, what kind of effect will it have to bring data centers to public attention?  Comments??

-Elizabeth English

photo by edanley under flickr creative commons license

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