ReThinking the Data Center

Recently there have been some developments in building alternatives to the traditional data center. Google has filed for a patent of its floating data center. Intel is running a proof-of-concept data center using outside air. Now, we learn that Microsoft has been running a rack of servers in a tent outside one of their data centers...something that those of us involved in Boy Scouts can appreciate :). You might be asking, "what's the point of all this?" The point is to get us to rethink the traditional data center from its location to the how we cool and maintain the environment.