A new industry group is trying to apply open-source principles to the design and construction of data centres, which it says could accelerate the use of new technologies and increase competition in the industry. The Open Source Data Center Initiative, will act as a repository and test bed for mechanical and engineering advances in data centre design, which it hopes will be submitted by small engineering firms, graduate students doing research with federal grant money, and others.

The group has enlisted a high-profile adviser in the form of Michael Manos, who used to run Microsoft's global data centre operations and is now building Nokia's cloud infrastructure. The data centre industry is "dominated by a handful of large engineering houses" that are wedded to mechanical and engineering designs that are "largely considered proprietary," he said. Those companies don't have enough incentive to educate their customers about simpler, more standardized alternatives, he continued.

Source: PC World

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