Facebook Data Center Slashes Energy Use

by | Apr 8, 2011

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Facebook has unveiled a green data center that it says uses 38 percent less energy to do the same work as its existing facilities, while costing 24 percent less – and the company says it wants other companies to adopt its technology.

The Prineville, Ore., data center uses custom-designed servers, power supplies, server racks and battery backup systems to achieve an initial power usage effectiveness (PUE) ratio of 1.07, compared to 1.5 for its existing facilities. In the winter, the data center will re-use hot aisle air to heat offices.

The project took about 18 months, Facebook said.

Now the company has announced the formation of the Open Compute Project, an industry-wide initiative that it says will share best practices for creating the most economical and energy-efficient data centers. Facebook will start by publishing specifications and mechanical designs for hardware including motherboards, power supply, server chassis, server racks and battery cabinets.

The company is also sharing electrical and mechanical construction specifications for its data center. These specifications are all available at http://opencompute.org/.

A video about the project is available here.

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