Facebook tests switch specs for Open Compute Project

November 17, 2013

The Open Compute Project last week announced that it is considering four contributions for development of an open, operating system-agnostic data center switch it announced six months ago. Open Compute is an effort initiated by Facebook two years ago to commoditize and wring cost out of hardware purchases for data center and cloud computing. It announced plans back in May to spec out an open source switch to complement its vendor-agnostic data center software, server, and storage designs. The switch would serve as a cost-effective top-of-rack alternative to those from traditional manufacturers, such as Cisco, Arista Networks, Brocade, Dell, Extreme Networks, Hewlett-Packard, and Juniper. Such an alternative would foster faster hardware innovation, facilitate software-defined networks (SDN), and offer more choice to consumers. Out of 30 potential contributions, OCP is highlighting four for consideration that are likely to be accepted soon, states Frank Frankovsky, chairman and president of the Open Compute Project Foundation, in this blog post. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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