What are the Blade Servers?
The servers "Blade" are nothing new in the world of computing. Entire computers were placed in the cards since 1970 as part of an effort to reduce the footprint (the amount of space required) for IT solutions.Today, companies employ servers "Blade" for the same reasons that were designed in the 70s: to save
space cluttered within data centers.
The solution lies in a compound that houses typically between 8 and 16 servers, called "Blade servers". The Bladecenter chassis is placed on a rack in the data center and provides the infrastructure for the "Blade" servers, such as space on the rack, energy, switching and network connectivity (no cable is required for each server). Most of the bladecenter chassis range from 6 to 10U in size, which means that, theoretically, you can place 64 or more servers on a rack. This is a great savings for a company with space problems.
What is the disadvantage? With most types of solutions being "too good to be true" there are always disadvantages and "Blade" servers is no exception. Greater numbers of servers also means more energy and more heat in a confined space. If you are considering installing a "Blade" server be sure to take into account the implications related to energy and heat. A new Liebert unit can provide enough space. Some datacenter can hold up to twice its normal space on the rack, so it is important to take into account the additional power and cooling requirements for the units.
According to Gartner, Blade servers are the segment with the fastest growth in the servers market, though this growth will be limited. The shipments will grow from 850,000 in 2006 to 2.3 million in 2011, representing almost 22% of the shipments of servers. Blade Servers will not disappear, so be sure to consider them in future design of your datacenter.
When you consider blades for your datacenter, its very important to choose the right blade solution for your environment. To find out how the best blades vendor offering compare check out:
Dell Blade Server vs SUN Blade Server
IBM Blade Server vs Dell Blade Server
About the Author:Julie Cole member of http://www.itcomparison.com as well write for http://www.virtualizationteam.com
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