Verne Global will offer two cooling methods: air cooling and the more expensive water cooling for customers using high-density blades, which might need anywhere from 20 to 60 kilowatts per rack, Cantrell says.

"For customers interested in a typical data center deployment, we have an air solution which requires no additional chillers at any point during the year," because of the Icelandic climate, he says.

The company is nearly finished building the network and power infrastructure, and is working with customers to build out the data center production environment. Verne Global isn't ready to reveal its customers, but Cantrell says it is working with media and financial services companies that generate large amounts of data, among others.

A typical customer configuration would include 8,000 square feet and 2.4 megawatts of power.

Cantrell says Iceland was the right place for Verne Global's first data center, because of the access to green power, free cooling and high-speed network connectivity. Verne Global is already scoping out additional sites, potentially in Asia, the Middle East and Europe.