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Data backup service Mozy (owned by EMC and managed by ReadWriteCloud sponsor VMware) is running an interesting infographic about data storage that looks into how much data there is in the world, what media that data is stored on and where the largest (in square feet) data centers in the world are.

Google has one of the largest and most secure clouds in the entire industry. You do not often hear of a successful distributed denial of service attack against Google and rarely are Google applications hacked (unless, of course, it reportedly comes from the Chinese government). How does Google keep the data centers that comprise its cloud so safe and are they the gold standard in data protection?

Adam Swidler, senior manager for Google Enterprise, laid out how the company keeps its cloud safe at the Cloud Control Conference in Boston this week. The measures that Google goes through are quite thorough. For instance, no Google clients or federal regulators are allowed inside of Google's data centers. When it comes to tough nuts to crack on the Internet, Google's cloud is about as tough as it gets.

This week the report Cloud Computing - The IT Solution for the 21st Century from the Carbon Disclosure Project has been making rounds in cloud computing circles. The report concludes that large businesses could use cloud computing to cut CO2 emissions by 85.7 million metric tons annually by 2020.

But GreenMonk analyst Tom Raftery says the report has some serious flaws, including the assumption that energy savings necessarily equate to reduced carbon emissions.

Linux has yet to displace Unix in the data center. Despite Unix server vendor consolidation, most data centers still run multiple flavors of physical Unix servers. That was the take-away from the 2010-11 Unix Vendor Preference Survey of 306 data center professionals conducted by Gabriel Consulting Group (GCG). GCG has been conducting its Unix surveys for five years, and focuses on physical systems, not virtual machines.

A special report from Spectrum, the journal of IEEE, is well worth a closer look to see where its writers see the Web evolving.

It contains, first and foremost, a series of articles on how the Internet and other technologies have changed how we work and relate to each other. There are a number of articles that compare Google and Facebook in different dimensions: how their data centers differ from ordinary data centers, what it is like to work at their Valley HQ campuses (although Facebook will be moving to a new facility later this year).

Our infographic to end the week is one of the better ones I've run across recently. It's about data centers, one of the more talked about topics in recent months. This one explores power consumption by making comparisons between standard usage and what can be accomplished with more efficient technologies.

It was produced by ABB, which, of course, has a vested interest in data center power automation. The company develops automation technologies for utility and industry customers to improve performance and lower environmental impact.

But it does what a good infographic shouid do. It makes comparisons.

The new data centers are far larger and more efficient than what is offered by enterprise hosting operations.

That's something we hear a lot more about. It comes down in many respects to scalability and elasticity of a cloud-based data centers that operate on commodity infrastructures.

The difference in cost is just one comparison that comes with the latest infographic from Wikibon.

Apple's long-rumored, cloud-based music service may be coming to fruition. According to reports, Apple has acquired the domain name iCloud.com from Swedish cloud services provider Xcerion for $4.5 million. Coupled with the 500,000 square foot data center that is being finished in North Carolina, Apple may finally be ready to make its big cloud push.

The speculation so far has been that the data center will be for iTunes storage and streaming. Think "iTunes Everywhere." It is also likely that Apple will rebrand its existing cloud product MobileMe at some point, perhaps with the iCloud designation. Either way, with a $4.5 million price tag for the domain name, it is likely that iCloud will be a significant chip in Apple's portfolio.

Google is famously secretive about its data centers, so a new video on its enterprise blog that gives a glimpse into the inner workings of its facilities is a rare treat. The video emphasizes security and environmental best practices. You can watch it after the jump.

We try to tell you everything you need to know about the cloud here every week, but sometimes there's just too much news and analysis for us to give everything the space it deserves. This posts highlights some important events and interesting thoughts in cloud clouding from around the Web.