Local electronics companies including Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) and Inventec Corp (英業達) yesterday joined the “Open Compute Project Taiwan” (OCPT), a project initiated by Facebook Inc to develop energy-efficient servers for data centers.
The project is part of a larger effort by Facebook to develop innovative hardware used for large-scale data centers to cope with a rising number of Facebook users and growth in data traffic.
Taiwan’s cloud computing technologies and services body the Taiwan Cloud Computing Consortium (TCCC, 台灣雲端運算產業協會) helped with the formation of the local program.
Taiwan is the third country after the US and Japan to join Facebook’s efforts to bring together PC original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and original design manufacturers (ODMs) so they can exchange ideas and solutions for improved server products, TCCC vice executive secretary Chiueh Tzi-Cker (闕志克) said.
A number of local firms are participating in the program including Wiwynn Corp (緯穎), the government-owned Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院), Delta Electronics Inc (台達電), Gigabyte Technology Corp (技嘉科技), Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) and Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大), Chiueh said.
“Members of the OCPT can better understand trends and developments in cloud computing technologies while learning how to develop energy-efficient servers, air-conditioning and power systems used for large data centers by collaborating with others in the industry,” Inventec chairman Richard Lee (李詩欽) told a press conference.
Facebook solutions engineer Charlie Manese said there were more than 1 billion Facebook members actively using the social network last year.
Manese said Facebook is not only aiming to upgrade the underlying platform for its Web site but is also seeking to adopt energy-efficient hardware and infrastructure for its data centers.
Citing a report by the Industrial Technology Research Institute’s (工研院) Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK, 產業經濟與趨勢研究中心), TCCC said the worldwide market value of large data centers is forecast to reach US$116.9 billion by 2015.
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