MacShrine

Apple has acquired an impressively equipped but never-used data center in Newark for an estimated $45 million to $50 million. The 107,000-square-foot facility, originally conceived for communications company MCI WorldCom before getting mothballed after its 2001 completion, is along Eureka Drive on Newark’s western fringe. Data centers generally house computing, data-storage and networking equipment assisting in Web-based services and transactions. The most elaborate ‘Tier IV’ centers such as the Newark facility have the highest levels of redundancy and security, and can cost upwards of $1,200 per square foot to erect and equip. Apple is thought to have paid in the vicinity of $450 per foot. Could this be for .Mac improvements or to improve the iTunes store infrastructure?