Highly original
Weren't SUN first to this party?
AWS is pitching a Modular Data Center (MDC) at the US government, with the aim of making it easier to deploy makeshift bitbarns managed by AWS in remote locations. Amazon's cloudy business says that AWS MDC is available as a self-contained modular datacenter unit for US Department of Defense (DoD) agencies, which can scale by …
So you need a satellite connection, so what's the point? Plus, just dont open the door to let the dust/sand/snow in. Plus plus have they tried the helicopter drop test? Plus plus plus the generator noise. I've been through this "thought up by office types" for battlefield use stuff before... Can't say more, but I hope they have a nerdy jarhead that is down with devOps.
Where I worked we had the same basic system for backup and recovery of our IT starting in the mid 1990s. The company we used had a standard 53 foot trailer with the same kit we used. It also didn't need external power as it had a generator as part of its load-out. It seems the military would want a mobile IT unit to include a power source rather that rely on what may or may not be available.
And if Amazon are trying to be "something new and better" I'd expect it to be a bit more that "just n needs power and optional network connection". I'd expect a standardised connector so they can park up as many as they need and just plug them into each other and for that to be a major selling point. After all, standard shipping containers are designed to be stacked already, so not hard to have a standard "port" top and bottom and maybe connection units to attach side by side.
Many years ago I did some minor work on a floating datacenter project meant for the Zumwalt-class destroyer. It was unit-built in a warehouse, with all the IT equipment already inside, and sealed and embedded in the ship as a whole during construction. While that class of ship was an overpriced disaster, the DC was still a neat project. The entire center was completely sealed and watertight, with even the data connections using special watertight military-grade connectors. (e.g. instead of RJ-45, it was a screw-in sealed stainless steel monster.) I saw a video of them performing shock testing where they towed it out on a special barge and then set off charges underneath to make sure it would still work after an explosion. During construction they even did their best to keep dirt out; there were adhesive pads you had to step on before going inside to make sure dirt didn't accumulate in inaccessible corners.