Facebook Launches Open Compute Project

Seeking to transform the energy efficiency of global datacentres, Facebook has launched the Open Compute Project, an initiative to share the custom-engineered technology in its first dedicated datacentre in Prineville, Oregon. This advanced technology delivered a 38 percent increase in energy efficiency at 24 percent lower cost for Facebook, and the specifications and best practices behind those gains will now be available to companies across the industry.

“Facebook and our development partners have invested tens of millions of dollars over the past two years to build upon industry specifications to create the most efficient computing infrastructure possible,” said Jonathan Heiliger, vice president of technical operations at Facebook. “These advancements are good for Facebook, but we think they could benefit all companies. Today we’re launching the Open Compute Project, a user-led forum, to share our designs and collaborate with anyone interested in highly efficient server and datacentre designs. We think it’s time to demystify the biggest capital expense of an online business – the infrastructure.”

Facebook is publishing technical specifications and mechanical CAD files for the Prineville datacentre’s servers, power supplies, server racks, battery backup systems and building design. This technology enabled the datacentre to achieve an initial power usage effectiveness (PUE) ratio of 1.07, compared with 1.5 for our existing facilities, which fall into the “best practice” category as defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency*. Established by the Green Grid in 2007, PUE is an indicator of datacentre energy efficiency, and the lower the number, the better.

Facebook is releasing these designs as open hardware, aiming to encourage industry-wide collaboration around best practices for datacentre and server technology.

Advanced Micro Devices, Dell, HP and Intel are among the companies that co-developed technology with Facebook. In addition, Dell’s Data Center Solutions business will design and build servers based on the Open Compute Project specification. Synnex Corporation will also serve as a vendor for Open Compute Project servers, offering fully integrated and tested solutions based on customers’ specifications.

For Facebook’s datacentre in Prineville, Open Compute Project hardware delivered:

• Energy savings—The datacentre uses 38 percent less energy to do the same work as Facebook’s exiting facilities. If a quarter of the datacentre capacity in the U.S. were built on Open Compute Project specifications, it would save enough energy to power more than 160,000 homes.

• Cost savings—In addition to the energy savings, Open Compute Project hardware means datacentre infrastructure costs 24 percent less to build out than Facebook’s existing datacentres.

• Materials savings—Servers use a vanity-free design with no paint, logos, stickers, or front panel – and are free of all non-essential parts. This saves more than 6 pounds of materials per server. In a typical datacentre, this would save more than 120 tons of material from being manufactured, transported, and, ultimately, discarded.

Facebook is publishing specifications and mechanical designs for Open Compute Project hardware, including motherboards, power supply, server chassis, and server and battery cabinets. In addition, Facebook is making available its datacentre electrical and mechanical construction specifications.