Facebook’s frozen tundra data center

Facebook’s frozen data center is a threat to more than just the caribou and polar bears. It’s a threat to other tech giants as well.

Every year, computing giants including Hewlett-Packard, Dell, and Cisco Systems sell north of $100 billion in hardware. That’s the total for the basic iron—servers, storage, and networking products. Add in specialized security, data analytics systems, and related software, and the figure gets much, much larger. So you can understand the concern these companies must feel as they watch Facebook publish more efficient equipment designs that directly threaten their business. For free.

The Dells and HPs of the world exist to sell and configure data-management gear to companies, or rent it out through cloud services. Facebook’s decision to publish its data center designs for anyone to copy could embolden others to bypass U.S. tech players and use low-cost vendors in Asia to supply and bolt together the systems they need.