Skip to main content

Facebook gets technical, announces Open Compute Project

facebook data serversSure, it wasn’t Facebook’s take on Groupon it announced today, but its new Open Compute Project definitely deserves a mention. The social network started off its live-streamed event this morning by explaining that no exciting new products or applications were being introduced today, while also reminding us that its data center and servers are how the site is able to create and power these features.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg and late VP of technical operations Johnathon Hieliger explained the difficulties social platforms have working with traditional, rented data servers. Hieliger likened it to living in a rented apartment where everything works, but you can’t paint the walls or tweak much to add your own personality. He also mentioned that while this depends on the flexibility of the individual data center, engineering social products and applications would be more cost and time efficient if something were engineered specifically to this end. And what Facebook wants, Facebook gets.

Recommended Videos

The social network opened its own data center in Prineville, Oregon last year and is busy preparing for another in North Carolina — all the while creating its own custom-made servers in the process. Today, Facebook revealed that this customized technology is far more efficient and economical than most in the industry, specifically when it comes to engineering for social platforms. In fact, its data center and servers are 38 percent more efficient and 24 percent less expensive to build than current competitors. And in the spirit of camaraderie, Facebook is opening up all of this information via the Open Compute Project.

This means that social startups will be able to, from day one, be able to begin with socially customized servers and (if necessary) data centers. Since it’s open source, the details of how Facebook pulled it off – every detail and specification – are now available for your or anyone else’s consumption.

While Facebook won’t profit from giving away its research findings for free, the buzz could build a following for the hardware designs that would spur more companies to build compliant hardware. Alternately, Facebook could lease space in data centers using its new technology to companies that don’t want to be bothered configuring it themselves.

It also makes us wonder what startups are going to jump all over this. Twitter clearly needs to get its act together before its users outgrow the site and its locked in technical difficulties oblivion, and Tumblr seems to be another site users can’t depend on. Will Facebook’s Open Computer Project be the answer for them?

Molly McHugh
Former Social Media/Web Editor
Before coming to Digital Trends, Molly worked as a freelance writer, occasional photographer, and general technical lackey…
Upgrade to the Alienware 18 Area-51 gaming laptop with RTX 5070 Ti — $500 off!
The Alienware 18 Area-51 Gaming Laptop on a white background.

You should be ready to spend a lot if you want a powerful gaming laptop, but you should also be on the lookout for potential savings. Now's a great time to check out Alienware deals because of Dell's Black Friday in July sale, which includes a fantastic offer for the Alienware 18 Area-51 gaming laptop. This configuration with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti graphics card is down from $3,300 to $2,800, which is still expensive, but you wouldn't want to miss this chance at $500 in savings. You have to hurry though, as stocks may run out at any moment!

Buy Now

Read more
Save $100 on our pick for the best printer
HP includes full ink bottles with the Smart Tank 7602.

What do we need to print these days? Tax forms, student essays, and clearly-legible letters? Not so much. Bright invites, pictures, and presentation accompaniments? Yes, yes, and yes! In today's world, the typical person's needs in an inkjet printer are far different than the last time you were likely to have bought a printer. And the industry is catching up. Right now, our pick for the overall best printer of 2025 is $100 off as part of early Prime Day deals. That makes the $450 printer just $350 if you buy now. Plus, it comes with two years of HP's ink included. So, tap the button below to go check out the HP Smart Tank 7602 for yourself or keep reading to see what we like about it and what we found out during our review.

BUY NOW

Read more
Apple’s work-from-home powerhouse is 24% off… and about to go extinct
The MacBook Air on a table in front of a window.

Hard-hitting MacBook deals are rare. People love their products and will happily buy them at full price, so sales aren't as incentivized as with other products. So, when we see a $400 savings on the most powerful version (the 24GB of RAM one) of the MacBook Air M3, dropping its price from $1,699 to $1,299, we love it. And that's exactly what's happening as part of this early Prime Day deal and one of the most exciting laptop deals in recent dates. Tap the button below to see it for yourself, or keep reading to get all of the details about the MacBook Air M3, what we discovered when we used it ourself, and why this deal may be the last of its kind.

BUY NOW

Read more