Facebook Open Compute Project picks switch specs

The Open Compute Project this 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