The Sun Blackbox tour hit Minneapolis today.

The unit was parked at the St. Thomas University campus, in downtown.

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I was impressed with the engineering, and with the idea that a portable design like this enforces strict data center design and deployment. You get one chance to install the servers, and do the initial tests. Then the unit is shipped out, and everything should work upon arrival. The Blackbox does not come with a compartment to store an administrator, so you can’t slack off.

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The server racks are mounted sideways to allow access to the front and backs, and to improve airflow.

More details about the tour can be found at Sun’s Blackbox blog.