Equinix Inc (NASDAQ:EQIX), which yesterday officially opened a new data center in Tokyo, has just unveiled a partnership with Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB).
Equinix has incorporated technology designed by Facebook and available from the Open Compute Project (OCP), in order to develop an open source ecosystem inside Equinix International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers. Equinix and Facebook will work together on technology innovation to create a diverse, open source platform for both software and hardware. This ecosystem is set to enable faster innovation, and create greater efficiency in data center and hybrid cloud deployments.
Wedge open source switches, developed by Facebook and contributed to OCP, will be part of the new architecture inside Equinix.
Customers will have an open source hardware and software platform to deploy their mobile, Internet of Things (IoT) and hybrid cloud deployments in a cost-effective manner.
The open source platform is set to create an environment for true innovation across hardware and software, enabling access to the dense ecosystem of networks and cloud service providers inside Equinix data centers. Overall, Platform Equinix hosts more than 6,300 customers, each of them potential customers or partners in developing new solutions or new routes into untapped markets.
Ihab Tarazi, CTO of Equinix, comments,
“We are thrilled to be working in close partnership with Facebook as we bring a new level of innovation and collaboration to our growing customer base. By working together, we can drive technology evolution for interconnection by defining the next-generation architecture for the network and cloud edge, thus ensuring our customers have the scale and performance they require for newly evolving platforms and applications.”
Jason Taylor, Chairman and President of the Open Compute Project Foundation, and VP of Infrastructure, Facebook, says,
“The OCP community works best when there is strong collaboration between companies, and that’s why I think the work on this open architecture for software and hardware is so important. I look forward to seeing how the use of OCP technology like Wedge open network switches helps Equinix better meet the needs of enterprises.”
You can view the full announcement on the collaboration by clicking here.