Open Compute Project: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 23:54, 9 July 2013

Revision as of 22:49, 12 July 2013

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{{Infobox Organization

|name = Open Compute Project

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The '''Open Compute Project''' initiative was announced in April 2011 by [[Facebook]] to openly share designs of [[data center]] products.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2011/04/14/will-open-compute-alter-the-data-center-market/ |title=Will Open Compute Alter the Data Center Market? |date=April 14, April 2011 |author= Rich Miller |work= Data Center Knowledge |accessdate= July 9, July 2013 }}</ref>

The effort came out of a redesign of Facebook's data center in [[Prineville, Oregon]].<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-engineering/building-efficient-data-centers-with-the-open-compute-project/10150144039563920 |title= Building Efficient Data Centers with the Open Compute Project |author= Jonathan Heiliger |date= April 7, April 2011 |work= Facebook Engineering's notes |accessdate= July 9, July 2013 }}</ref>

The leader of the effort is Frank Frankovsky. After two years, it was admitted that "the new design is still a long way from live data centers."<ref>{{Cite news |title= Facebook Shatters the Computer Server Into Tiny Pieces |date= January 16, January 2013 |author= Cade Metz |work= Wired |url= http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/01/facebook-server-pieces/ |accessdate= July 9, July 2013 }}</ref>

However, some aspects published were used in the Prineville center to improve the energy efficiency, as measured by the [[power usage effectiveness]] index defined by [[The Green Grid]].<ref name="Stanford">{{Cite web |title= Facebook's Open Compute Project |work= Stanford EE Computer Systems Colloquium |date= February 15, February 2012 |url= http://www.stanford.edu/class/ee380/Abstracts/120215.html |author= Amir Michael |publisher= [[Stanford University]]}} ([http://ee380.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/videologger.php?target=120215-ee380-300.asx video archive])</ref>

Components include:

*Server compute nodes included one for [[Intel]] processors and one for [[AMD]] processors. In 2013, [[Calxeda]] contributed a design with [[ARM architecture]] processors.<ref>{{Cite web |title= ARM Server Motherboard Design for Open Vault Chassis Hardware v0.3 MB-draco-hesperides-0.3 |author= Tom Schnell |date= January 16, January 2013 |url=http://www.opencompute.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Open_Compute_Project_ARM_Server_Specification_v0.3.pdf |accessdate= July 9, July 2013 }}</ref>

*Open Vault storage building blocks offer high disk densities, with 30 drives in a 2U Open Rack chassis designed for easy [[disk drive]] replacement. The 3.5 inch disks are stored in two drawers, five across and three deep in each drawer, with connections via [[serial attached SCSI]].<ref>{{Cite web |title= Open Vault Storage Hardware V0.7 OR-draco-bueana-0.7 |author= Mike Yan and Jon Ehlen |date= 16 January 16, 2013 |url= http://www.opencompute.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Open_Compute_Project_Open_Vault_Storage_Specification_v0.7.pdf |accessdate= 9 July 9, 2013 }}</ref> Another design concept was contributed by Hyve Solutions, a division of [[Synnex]] in 2012.<ref>{{Cite web |title= Hyve Solutions Contributes Storage Design Concept to OCP Community |work= News release |date= 17 January 17, 2013 |url= http://ir.synnex.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=733922 |accessdate= 9 July 9, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title= Torpedo Design Concept Storage Server for Open Rack Hardware v0.3 ST-draco-chimera-0.3 |author= Conor Malone |date= 15 January 15, 2012 |url= http://www.opencompute.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Open_Compute_Project_Storage_Server_for_Open_Rack_Specification_v0.3.pdf |accessdate= 9 July 9, 2013 }}</ref>

* Mechanical mounting system: Open racks have the same outside width (600 mm) and depth as standard [[19-inch rack]]s, but are designed to mount wider chassis with a 537mm width (about 21 inches). This allows more equipment to fit in the same volume and improves air flow. Compute chassis sizes are defined in multiples of an OpenU, which is 48mm, slightly larger than the typical [[rack unit]].

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*Data center designs for energy efficiency, include 277 VAC power distribution that eliminates one transformer stage in typical data centers. A single voltage (12.5 VDC) power supply designed to work with 277 VAC input and 48 VDC battery backup.<ref name="Stanford" />

*On 8 May 8, 2013, an effort to define an open [[network switch]] was announced.<ref>{{Cite web |title= Up next for the Open Compute Project: The Network |date= 8 May 8, 2013 |author= Jay Hauser for Frank Frankovsky |work= Open Compute blog |url= http://www.opencompute.org/2013/05/08/up-next-for-the-open-compute-project-the-network/ |accessdate= 9 July 9, 2013 }}</ref> The plan was to allow Facebook to load its own [[operating system]] software onto the switch. Press reports predicted that more expensive and higher-performance switches would continue to be popular, while less expensive products treated more like a [[commodity]] (using the [[buzzword]] "top-of-rack") might adopt the proposal.<ref>{{Cite news |title= Can Open Compute change network switching? |author= David Chernicoff |work= ZDNet |date= 9 May 9, 2013 |url= http://www.zdnet.com/can-open-compute-change-network-switching-7000015141/ |accessdate= 9 July 9, 2013 }}</ref>

A similar project for a custom switch for the [[Google platform]] had been rumored, and evolved into the [[OpenFlow]] protocol.<ref>{{Cite news |title= Facebook Rattles Networking World With ‘Open Source’ Gear |date= May 8, May 2013 |author= Cade Metz |work= Wired |url= http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/05/facebook_networking/ |accessdate= July 9, July 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title= Going With the Flow: Google’s Secret Switch to the Next Wave of Networking |date= April 17, April 2012 |author= Steven Levy |work= Wired |url= http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2012/04/going-with-the-flow-google/ |accessdate= July 9, July 2013 }}</ref>

==References==