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This is a strategic attack on Google. A proliferation of scalable data centers hurts Google a lot more than Facebook by enabling Google's competitors. Cheap computation matters much more to search engines than social networking sites.
Ethernet-powered LED lighting :D
The only details I was able to dig up are in the Data Center specs [1], and they're pretty brief:
> Energy-efficient LED lighting is used throughout the data center interior. / Innovative power over Ethernet LED lighting system. / Each fixture has an occupancy sensor with manual override. / Programmable alerts via flashing LEDs.
I wondered what the justification for PoE lighting could possibly be, sounds like all the lighting is also functional as instrumentation.
Anyone know more?
[1] http://opencompute.org/specs/Open_Compute_Project_Data_Cente...
This is a strategic attack on Google. A proliferation of scalable data centers hurts Google a lot more than Facebook by enabling Google's competitors. Cheap computation matters much more to search engines than social networking sites.
I think you're going overboard in thinking that everything the big players do is about killing the other guy. Sometimes they just want to reduce costs. If you decide that part of your infrastructure isn't strategic to own, it always makes sense to be open.
This is a strategic attack on Google. A proliferation of scalable data centers hurts Google a lot more than Facebook by enabling Google's competitors. Cheap computation matters much more to search engines than social networking sites.
Because Google could never benefit from Facebook's designs too? Google does a lot of things bespoke, but now they have a model to compare with that is using more off-the-shelf tech. That can only help them in the buy-vs-build decision process. I think you're going overboard in thinking that everything the big players do is about killing the other guy. Sometimes they just want to reduce costs. If you decide that part…
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Because Google could never benefit from Facebook's designs too? Google does a lot of things bespoke, but now they have a model to compare with that is using more off-the-shelf tech. That can only help them in the buy-vs-build decision process. I think you're going overboard in thinking that everything the big players do is about killing the other guy. Sometimes they just want to reduce costs. If you decide that part…
I'd say that efficient data servers are one of google's core competencies. Google does not benefit from having that commoditized.
Not sure how many startups built their own servers anymore, this event seems like a response to the Greenpeace accusations of Facebook's environmental responsibility or wherever. Edit: I agree it's a good thing, it's just that hosting a press event rather than just making the announcement through a blog post suggests other motives as well.
This is true. However, the services that startups use to host their servers (Amazon Web Services, Rackspace, etc.) could adopt these practices in new datacenters because the specs are open. This could lower costs for the startups that use these services, and be good for the environment. Seems like everyone wins.
I don't get the AC PSUs on the servers ( http://opencompute.org/servers/ ). Any reason why those are being used when each 6-rack group has a UPS (and batteries) connected to them? Going DC would get rid of the inverter on the UPS out and the 200 or so PSUs on each server.
The UPS doesn't need an inverter - the PSUs have a DC in.
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That is a good point, that you have raised. But I wonder, why well established companies like microsoft, apple etc. are not doing this.
They are. http://goo.gl/RPgs2 . It's not new.
Badoom tsss
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This "sorry ARM" stuff is mostly just the media's need to turn every story into a horse race. But there is some technical detail here: Facebook said they're not ever willing to use 32-bit and ARM won't have 64-bit for years. Also notice that Facebook's servers are "conventional" 2-socket with lots of DIMM slots, not 1-socket "microservers".
Fwiw, Freescale has a 64bit ppc processor now... Either way though, until you're able to just drop an ARM processor into a "commodity" motherboard, it won't really see widespread use, aside from cell phones, and other mobile devices. There is also the fact that ARM processors all seem to have the graphics card embedded in the chip.
I'd be very interested in hearing from someone with more experience in running their own hardware what portions (if any) of what Facebook has announced today is applicable at the small scale of say having a couple of co-located racks in some datacenter. Maybe the base server designs?
- new featureset mobos: stripped down, no parallel ports among other things I'm sure. there looked to be some SATA/Mini-USB type sockets. - fancy new power supplies - the triple racks don't seem to be anything special at face value, convenient maybe, but with the power features above two of these triple racks are serviced by one battery rack. So, you'd need, oh, 400+ servers to take full advantage at this level.
NOW HOW MUCH WOULD YOU PAY?
- Fancy power distribution and cabling and stuff, mostly part of the racks, possibly involving wacky connectors on the compute side. For smaller operations this would be like having a 60-outlet power strip.
- 95% efficient from plug to party-time. This helps with the bills.
- Using the room/building as the cooling mechanism. While this has likely been done before in some manner (at least an intentional use of stack-effect in HVAC), that weird slot that one of the boxes gets pushed into makes me think they have some kind of sealed thingy from floor to ceiling that interfaces with the racks, basically using the building cooling to push in and suck out air forced through the racks. at a basic level it's all about CFMs, after all. This could also be done with forced current from front to back, or vice versa.
whatever is going on here, you first have to get to the "your own server room" part of business. this can be had at smaller companies, too, but for the room-cool ducting you'd need to cut into walls and stuff in the server room to pipe that stuff in. Spendy.
So, this leaves the smalltimer to save $15 on their monthly power bill by using new rack servers that don't need or have an NVidia GeForce 9000+ and 10-drive RAID. Stripped down BIOS and maybe no more IDE support, that kind of thing. Hot Rod rack servers of the skeleton/pure-compute variety, not the AlienWare one.