In a move hinted at during a keynote at January’s Open Compute Summit, Facebook is building a data center using new techniques that make it akin to building a giant Ikea desk. The company will use these new “rapid deployment data center” techniques on its forthcoming second data center in Luleå, Sweden, and will share its insights via the Open Compute Project.

The first method Facebook is employing, called the “chassis approach,” is actually more similar to an automobile assembly line, where the chassis is built separately and then built upon from there. In Facebook’s case, the chassis is a 12-foot by 40-foot unit that will sit above rows of racks and house lighting, cable trays, and everything else that typically goes above a row of servers. Facebook data center engineer Marco Magarelli wrote in the blog post detailing the new methods that the company chose the chassis approach…