Quanta Launches Open Compute Solutions, Including Open Rack

quanta-F03C-470

The Quanta Windmill F03C is a half-width, Intel Xeon ES-2600 product family motherboard that features dual CPU sockets and 16x DIMM slots. (Photo: Quanta)

For years, Quanta Computer has been building servers for Facebook and Rackspace based on design concepts advanced by the Open Compute Project (OCP). Today Quanta QCT launched a line of hardware products making those Open Compute designs available to a broader pool of customers.

Quanta QCT (short for Quanta Cloud Technology) is the U.S. business unit of Taiwan-based Quanta Computer, and is marketing its OCP server, storage and network gear under the Rackgo X brand. The new line includes two server solutions, one storage JBOD (model JBR) and one 10G SFP+ switch (model T3048-LY2). A server motherboard option, the Windmill F03, is also available.

The Open Compute Project began as an open source showcase for Facebook’s design innovations, but over the past two years has evolved into an active community building cutting-edge hardware, disrupting the traditional IT supply chain, and laying the groundwork for future innovation.

“Our customers are on a continual quest for the most capital and operationally efficient data center design,"  said Mike Yang, the general manager of Quanta QCT. "The Open Compute Project is intended to address this need, and Rackgo X is the culmination of our long-term OCP design and development effort. Working with innovators like Facebook and Rackspace, Quanta has developed the most comprehensive lineup of OCP spec products available on the market.”

Adopting Wider Open Rack Design

Quanta provided design, engineering and manufacturing support for Facebook as the social network developed custom hardware for its first data center in Prineville, Oregon. The Rackgo X lineup is inspired by OCP’s Open Rack standard, which 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.

All the products in the Rackgo X line will be contributed back to the Open Compute Foundation so others in the industry can build upon them.

"We are thrilled to see Quanta join the ranks of Open Compute Project Solutions Providers, and to see them expand their commitment to open source hardware by contributing their innovative designs back to the foundation," said Frank Frankovsky, vice president of infrastructure, Facebook and chairman and president of the Open Compute Foundation. "Investments like this, from companies like Quanta, are exactly the kind of thing that is helping the OCP community make data center technologies more innovative, more efficient, and more sustainable.”

Customers Include Rackspace

Quanta is the sixth company to qualify as an Open Compute solution provider, joining Hyve Solutions, Avnet, Amax, Penguin Computing and Racklive. But although it's a little later than some rivals in getting official solution provider status, Quanta's early mover status has earned it plenty of mindshare. With products QCT developed for Rackspace Hosting, it's gaining market share as well.

“It's important for Rackspace and the OCP community to innovate using open hardware standards," said Wesley Jess, vice president of supply chain for Rackspace. "This enables us to leverage the best engineering talent across the globe and to bring products to market faster in an efficient and scalable way. To maximize on this opportunity, we have chosen Quanta as one of our technology providers because they offer substantial experience with OCP technology in demanding and highly scalable computing environments.”

Product lineup details include:

To help customers get started quickly with Rackgo X, Quanta also offers three reference architectures. The X300 architecture is designed for compute-intensive workloads, while the X500 architecture targets storage- and bandwidth-intensive workloads, and the X700 architecture is tuned for Hadoop and other, more balanced workloads.

Quanta QCT is headquartered in Fremont, Calif. Its parent company, Quanta Computer, Inc., is a $34 billion company with more than 100,000 employees. It is an original design manufacturing (ODM) provider that provides an alternative to working with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) like Dell, HP and IBM that have dominated server sales in the U.S.