At around one hour, fifty-five minutes, and fifty seconds into Monday’s Keynote, Steve Jobs riposted, “If you don’t think we’re serious, you’re wrong.” The audience, wide-eyed with the announcement of iTunes Match, quickly hushed as Jobs paced across the stage. “This is our third data center that we just completed. It’s in Maiden, North Carolina.” Steve Jobs emphasized the enormous size of the data center, briefly revealing some of the technology inside. “We’re pretty proud of it.”
Apple’s 3rd data center had been at the center of speculation in the months leading up to Monday’s keynote, and while everyone agreed that the servers packed inside would host a myriad of iTunes content, no one really understood its true purpose. Many expected a much bigger announcement from Apple yesterday, with many eager to see music, video, and movie streaming at their fingertips. Instead, the iTunes services offered present a solution that met the demands for streaming half way: while files are still stored natively on devices, they’re available for access from iCloud itself. iTunes Match is agreeably head scratching, but the promise of a service that will just work by a Fall release gives me the feeling Apple hasn’t shown us everything there is to the un-locker service.
So with the focus on pushing content rather than streaming, the question that many are now asking is, “What exactly does Apple’s 3rd data center do if they’re not (yet) streaming content?” It’s a fair question, especially when Apple’s equipment is examined more closely. Many of the racks shown in Apple’s data center are capped with nothing but filler panels, and there’s an obvious mix of machines presented that were chosen more for show than to reveal Apple’s inner workings. With the brief glimpse Jobs gave us, however, it is possible to make a couple good guesses as we identify all of the equipment. Read more
