The Open Compute Project is an initiative under which vendors and hyperscale operators share data center designs so that organizations can build efficient open-source cloud hardware. The project includes prominent contributors such as Seagate, Facebook and Advanced Micro Devices, and recently Microsoft and IBM both announced that they would join the open hardware ranks.
Open Compute Project has led to much greater energy efficiency in appliances and data centers built according to its guidelines. Going forward, it may provide an open, cost-effective alternative to proprietary solutions that have been marketed as "converged infrastructure."
Microsoft, IBM join impressive list of Open Compute Project contributors
Microsoft recently announced that it would share server designs and open source code with the rest of the Open Compute Project community. According to Ars Technica, this could be a pivotal moment for the initiative because it could have real implications for the server industry and it breaks with the practice of companies such as Google keeping designs close to the vest.
At the recent Open Compute Summit in San Jose, the software giant showed off three designs that it came up with in collaboration with HP, Dell and Quanta. Like other open equipment, these formulations may give enterprises vanity-free alternatives to off-the-shelf servers from major hardware vendors.
For example, Facebook has shown that taking even minor steps such as taking out the plastic bezel that contains the server's brand logo can reduce power consumption, since it removes an impediment to airflow cooling. Moreover, Open Compute Project designs contain no extraneous features, having been stripped-down to essential components.
"They offer dramatic improvements over traditional enterprise server designs: Up to 40 percent server cost savings, 15 percent power efficiency gains and 50 percent reduction in deployment and service times," stated Microsoft cloud vice president Bill Laing in a blog post about the announcement. "We also expect this server design to contribute to our environmental sustainability efforts by reducing network cabling by 1,100 miles and metal by 10,000 tons across our base of 1 million servers."
Facebook has had similar results with its implementations. Open Compute Project cloud storage and networking devices have saved it $1.2 billion, conserving enough energy to power more than 40,000 homes for a year, according to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
IBM joining the project is particularly notable, given the company's other data center initiatives. Last year, IBM started the similar OpenPOWER Consortium, an initiative that opened up the company's microprocessor architecture for development, with companies such as Mellanox, NVIDIA and TYAN, a Seagate Cloud Builder Alliance partner.
Open Compute Project's relationship with "converged infrastructure"
Now that the Open Compute Project has expanded into areas such as networking and storage, some observers may think that it is a player in the converged infrastructure market, that is, a fully integrated solution. However, project chairman Frank Frankovsky of Facebook has disputed this label, instead positioning Open Compute Project designs as things that can boost efficiencies across the board without locking organizations in with specific cloud service providers.
"There are a lot of benefits of converged infrastructure – if you want a full solution that is vertically integrated you buy converged, but you'll also be locked-in," Frankovsky said, according to ServerWatch. "The solution provider network plays a critical role in being able to deliver the benefits of a converged infrastructure without the proprietary [details] that typically comes with it."
Proprietary tweaks are often one of the main drivers of higher hardware costs, so, by removing them, Open Compute Project contributors give enterprises cost-effective alternatives. While adoption of open designs isn't widespread yet, revisions to the project's licensing structure and the integration of new ARM designs could increase its momentum.
