IBM plans $300-mn disaster recovery centers

BOSTON, USA: IBM plans to spend $300 million this year to build 13 "cloud computing" data centers where businesses can store information for quick retrieval in case their computer systems are destroyed in a disaster.

Cloud computing refers to services accessed via the Web that seem to exist in a cloud over the Internet.

The computing giant, which will unveil the plan on Wednesday, is building the sites in 10 countries, including China, Japan, Turkey, Poland, France and the United States.

IBM has so far rolled out the cloud-computing data recovery technology to fewer than five of its 154 existing data centers, the oldest of which was built more than 40 years ago.

The technology encrypts data on computers, automatically sending it to IBM's cloud computing center over the Internet.

If a customer's computer breaks down or a data center is destroyed, lost data can be restored via the Web in two to six hours, IBM Vice President Mike Riegel said in an interview.

Older technology known as "data mirroring" is far more expensive than cloud-computing technology and relies on two sets of data in two locations. But it also allows for systems to be restored in less than an hour, he said.

IBM's rivals in this area include Hewlett-Packard Co and privately held SunGard.