It will find application in hyperscale data centers.
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Why the Specification Was Updated
Engineers from the Open Compute Project (OCP) of the standard back in 2013. It described a modular and open design for racks in data centers with a width of 21 inches. This approach allowed increasing the rack space utilization ratio to 87.5%. In comparison, the standard 19-inch racks used today have a utilization ratio of only 73%.
Additionally, engineers changed the approach to power distribution. The main innovation was a 12-volt bus to which equipment is connected. This eliminated the need to install a separate power supply for each server.
In 2015, the In it, the developers to a 48-volt model and reduced the number of transformers, which led to a 30% reduction in the power consumption of racks. Thanks to these features, the standard gained widespread adoption in the IT industry. Racks began to be actively sought after by large IT corporations, telecommunications companies, and banks.
Recently, the developers introduced a new specification — Open Rack v3. According to the authors of the OCP initiative, it is being developed for high-performance data centers that process data for AI and ML systems. The hardware solutions implemented in them have a high power dissipation density. Effective operation required a new rack design.
What is already known about Open Rack v3
The developers note that the new standard will be more flexible and universal than v2, as well as incorporate the best features from previous versions — energy efficiency, modularity, and compactness. In particular, , that it will continue to use 48-volt power supplies.
The design of the new racks is expected to improve airflow and heat dissipation. Notably, liquid cooling systems will be used for cooling the equipment. OCP members on several solutions in this area. Specifically, liquid contact loops, heat exchangers mounted on the back wall of the rack, and immersion systems are being developed.
Next, here are some physical parameters of the new racks:
Form Factor, U
48 or 42
Rack Width, mm
600
Rack depth, mm
1068
Maximum load, kg
1600
Operating temperature range, °C
10–60
Operating humidity, %
85
Cooling type
Liquid
Opinions
Specification developers , that in the future Open Rack v3 will reduce the cost of IT systems in data centers. At Schneider Electric , that the second version of the racks already allows for a 25% reduction in server maintenance costs compared to traditional structures. There is reason to believe that the new specification will improve this figure.
Among the disadvantages of the standard, experts the complexity of adapting equipment and machine rooms to its requirements. There is a possibility that the cost of retrofitting server rooms will exceed the potential benefits of its implementation. For this reason, Open Rack is mostly aimed at new data centers.
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Other drawbacks the design features of the solution. The architecture of open racks does not provide protection against dust. Additionally, the likelihood of damaging equipment or cables increases.
Similar projects
In March, another specification for racks was released — (to view the specification, you must download the PDF file). The document was developed by the Open19 Foundation, which has been trying since 2017 approaches to data center creation. We discussed this organization in .
The Open19 System Level standard describes a universal form factor for racks and establishes requirements for network structure and power consumption. The Open19 team proposes using so-called brick cages. These are modules with several chassis where necessary hardware — servers or storage systems — can be placed in arbitrary combinations. The design also includes power shelves, switches, network switches, and a cable management system.
For cooling, an immersion direct-to-chip based on dry water is used. The concept authors , state that the Open19 architecture improves the overall energy efficiency of data centers by 10%.
Experts in the IT industry believe that in the future, projects like Open19 and Open Rack will enable faster construction of flexible data centers for working with IoT solutions, contribute to the development of 5G technologies, and enhance edge computing.
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Source: habr.com
