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Blackbox is basically a 20-foot cargo shipping container that is stuffed with computing power. As such it represents a new flexible approach to data centre.

According to Sun, "housed in a standard 20-foot shipping container for maximum flexibility, Project Blackbox will be easily transported using common shipping methods." All you need is to connect up power, networking and chilled water for cooling.

"What does the CIO in midtown Manhattan do when she runs out of roof space or power?" Asks Sun CEO, Jonathan Schwartz. "How does an aid agency deliver basic connectivity to 5,000 relief workers in a tsunami stricken metropolis? What does an oil company do when they want to move high performance analytics onto an offshore platform or supertanker? Or a large web services company do when they want to cookie cutter their infrastructure next to a hyrdroelectric plant for cheap power - within weeks, not years?"

Hang on a minute - "a tsunami stricken metropolis"? Apparently so. "You can place them on offshore oil rigs. In disaster areas. In remote locations without infrastructure. To wherever they're most needed," continues Schwartz.

Let's think about that for a minute. A humanitarian crisis hits a "tsunami stricken metropolis" turning it into a disaster area, and Sun wants to use available water to drive a mobile data center? I'm no humanitarian aid worker but I had the vague idea that in such a situation water - let alone chilled water - is something of a valuable commodity.

It may only have been photoshopped for illustrative purposes but the above picture is in questionable taste, and is clearly misleading when you consider Sun has as much chance of getting a Blackbox running in such a remote environment as it does sending one to Mars.

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