Video Demo: Facebook’s Open Rack Revealed

This prototype of Facebook’s Open Rack enclosure design features a 10U “power zone.” Three zones fit in each Open Rack enclosure. (Photo: Colleen Miller)

Facebook’s new Open Rack provides a 21-inch wide slot for servers, expanding upon the 19-inch width that has long been the standard for data center hardware. The wider form factor will create more room for improved thermal management, as well as better connections for power and cabling. The Open Rack replaces the three-wide “triplet” racks used in the Facebook’s first company-built data center in Prineville, Oregon. One of the key innovations is in the power distribution, where Facebook has created a “power shelf” that houses the power supplies, rather than placing them on board the server tray. In this video, Facebook Manager, Hardware Design Matt Corddry introduces us to “Shorty,” a 10U Open Rack prototype that showcases the new power scheme and other innovations. This video runs about 6 minutes.

For more background on Facebook’s data center operations, see our Facebook Channel and the Facebook Data Center FAQ. For additional video, check out our DCK video archive and the Data Center Videos channel on YouTube.

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About Colleen Miller

Colleen Miller is a journalist and social media specialist. She has more than 25 years of writing and editing experience, with her most recent work dedicated to the online space. Colleen covers the data center industry, including topics such as modular, cloud and storage/big data.