Data center in Springfield? Doh!

Sorry, couldn’t resist the Simpsons reference in the title, but there may be one The data center is coming to Springfield – Massachusetts, that is. Massachusetts state officials are evaluating two sites in Springfield, Mass., to build a 70,000-square-foot data center at a price tag of $70 million to $80 million. The new facility will allow the state to expand beyond its existing data center in Chelsea, which has run out of space. The state will choose between two sites on government property: Springfield Technical Community College or a site on Eliot Street where the former Springfield Technical High School is located.

But first there is the question of funding. The data center project has been slated for bond funding, according to Mass High Tech, but lawmakers have yet to approve a $250 million bond to fund the state’s IT budget, which state technology officials l -they requested in 2006. In the meantime, the state government stores its data at a Sungard data recovery facility in New Jersey.