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Why Open Compute Is a Win For Rackspace
1sockchuck writes "Cloud provider Rackspace is looking to the emerging open source hardware ecosystem to transform its data centers. The cloud provider spends $200 million a year on servers and storage, and sees the Open Compute Project as the key to reducing its costs on hardware design and operations. Rackspace is keen on the potential of the new Open Rack program, and its buying power is motivating HP and Dell to develop for the new standard — partly because Rackspace has also been talking with original design manufacturers like Quantra and Wistron. It's an early look at how open source hardware could have a virtuous impact on the server economy. 'I think the OEMs were not very interested (in Open Compute) initially,' said Rackspace COO Mark Roenigk. 'But in the last six months they have become really focused.'"
Open source hardware totally makes sense in the hobbyist world. Its going like gangbusters at places like Adafruit, Sparkfun, etc.
Remains to be seen how well it works at the big corporate level, but I could see real benefit to putting an end to duplicative squandering of R&D resources by a hundred different companies on same, but different, designs for motherboards, power supplies, routers, etc.
I kind of doubt its going to help Cisco, HP or Dell though. Its just going to further commoditize hardware and cut profit margins. Once you have solid designs big data centers like Amazon, Google, Facebook and Rackspace will, if they haven't already, farm out the manufacturing to lowest bidder in China and cut out the middlemen which would be HP and Dell.
I really don't see what value HP and Dell add to anything at this point and their stock prices seem to concur. Microsoft and Linux own the software, and hardware just isn't a place to differentiate much any more except on the very high end. Apple was smart enough to hold on to the software, hardware and ecosystem and they are reaping huge profits as a result.
HP is especially sad. Apotheker knew their hardware business was going no where but down, his board apparently completely supported him in spinning it off, if it wasn't the boards idea in the first place. Leo announced it, stock tanked, media and social networks skewered them, and the board scapegoated Leo and claimed it was all his fault. Sad.
Another plus with open hardware, coupled with open software, is it might slow down the NSA, FBI and/or Huawei from backdooring all our computing and network infrastructure.
@de_machina
They have some really good ideas for rack/server design - eg they reckon they are getting 34% power saving by supplying 12V DC to buses in the racks so servers don't need individual power supplies and with improved cooling paths.
Manufacturers won't standardise unless they are pushed like rackspace is doing. This is a big advance.
I am not a robot. I am a unicorn.
Why is it so many open source projects sound like names for run down strip clubs?
Monstar L
The rack frame itself is 24 inches in width, but, for some stupid reason, the rack was confined to 19 inches
Plus, all the components, like HD, mobo, and so on, had to had their own PSU
Air flow was seriously constricted, and heat built up
Now that they change the spec to 21 inches, and leave the power supply to the frame, just like what they were doing in the blade servers, much improvement will be had in this new design
As for the entrenched interest - HP and Dell are the two biggest OEM, and if they do not want to play, well, the Taiwanese ODMs will be more than happy to move in and fill the gap
And do not discount the biggest elephant in the room, Foxconn - if Foxconn decides to join in the game, the whole scene will change drastically
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !