Version 2 of Open Compute specifications released

As part of the Open Compute Summit currently being held in San Antonio, Texas, the Open Compute Project has announced version 2.0 of its specifications for energy-efficient data centres. As part of these specifications, Intel and AMD have both unveiled new motherboard designs for the Open Compute servers. A new Open Rack specification has also been announced – "a new, open standard for server rack design" developed from the purpose-built server rack originally designed for Facebook's data centres.

Open Compute was launched in April of last year by Facebook and comprises plans for the company's custom built data centres. Energy efficiency was a main consideration in the development of the specifications and many parts use significantly less power than common server components. The new motherboard designs by Intel and AMD increase the available RAM for the servers and use the latest generation of CPUs from both vendors (Intel's Xeon E5-5600 and the Opteron 6200 processor from AMD).

Facebook has garnered interest from the industry for its direct approach with the Open Compute Project by directly commissioning hardware designs from suppliers and cutting out conventional server retailers such as Dell and HP in the process, but it is unclear how much practical use these specifications are to other companies. Currently, the specified hardware is not on sale, although AMD's announcement mentions the fact that their new motherboard is targeted at companies in the financial sector and quotes a representative from Fidelity Investments, which would suggest that the platform will be available for sale eventually.

See also:

• Red Hat certifies RHEL for Facebook's Open Compute systems, a report from The H.
  

(fab)