ity and efficiency . “ A lot of companies out there – particularly software as a service companies – don ’ t want or need a Tier III data centre . They ’ re running hybrid clouds and want their private cloud to look very similar to their public cloud environment . Most of the public cloud out there is running open hardware . Huge , over-engineered Tier III data centres just aren ’ t necessary ,” Helvie says . “ We approach an OCP-optimised data centre from a point of view where , instead of packing in additional systems , redundancies , bells and whistles , we ask what it is we don ’ t need .”
For example , a traditional data centre server rack might use eight 40mm fans for in-rack cooling . An OCP rack , by contrast , uses just two 80mm fans . This enables the two larger fans to keep the rack at the same temperature while reducing the amount of energy consumed by 7 / 8th ( according to the fan cube law ).
OCP hardware is designed to have as few components as possible , with a firm emphasis on modularity . “ OCP
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“ Any piece of approved hardware that ends up on our website has been through a really rigorous review process ”
— Steve Helvie , OCP Foundation datacentremagazine . com