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Short abstract:

This paper proposes a shift from size to scale by describing the scale-making practices of tech giants in their "hyperscale" data center facilities

Long abstract:

It is now public knowledge that US-based tech giants (e.g., Amazon, Google, Meta) have built massive networks of data centers linked by powerful subsea cables. Scholarship and the press have revealed the large number, size, and capacity of this “hyperscale” infrastructure.

In this paper, I shift the attention from size to scale and detail scale-making practices in Meta’s data centers. I reveal Meta’s efforts to scale up its computing infrastructure, starting with the smallest data center units (server), working its way up to the cabinets containing the servers, and then to the architecture of data centers.

First, Meta endorsed a widespread critique in the industry of the black-boxed model for server manufacturing from traditional firms (HP, IBM) and launched an industry consortium—open compute project (OCP)—to promote open-source hardware in the data center industry. This strategy allowed Meta and other hyperscalers to decide their standards for the design, power supply, and maintenance model for data center hardware, all designed with “hyperscale” operations in mind.

Second, the consortium designed the next steps for scaling up the adoption of such components. First, developing more powerful servers necessitated the creation of larger server cabinets. Tech giants developed and promoted via this consortium the 21-inch rack—as opposed to the industry standard of a 19-inch rack. One level up, adopting such racks (which are taller and heavier) required the design of a new architectural standard for data centers—which became the certificate OCP Ready™—allowing data center owners to adapt their architecture to accommodate such gear.