Big Blue Beefs Up BladeCenter
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IBM is trying to capitalize on the growing blade server market. Although it generates less revenue than other areas of the server market, the blade segment is increasing in volume and value to vendors, according to IDC analyst Jean Bozman.
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The Story: Call it a trend within a trend. Blade servers have become the fastest growing segment of the server market, and for the first time accounted for more than $1 billion in sales during the third quarter of 2007. Although the vast majority of those sales were to enterprise customers, IBM and Hewlett-Packard have redoubled their efforts to push blades downmarket to small and medium businesses.[ Slideshow: 2007's top underreported tech stories ]                                                    And why not? There are tens of thousands of relatively small businesses, not to mention remote offices, that already run three or more servers ? in many cases with only minimal IT resources.Both HP and IBM launched blade products aimed at the small-to-medium business market late this year. HP has the BladeSystem c3000, which can hold as many as eight blades in a single chassis, and IBM has the BladeCenter S, a six-blade chassis system with on-board storage and switch options. These may sound familiar; both companies have touted blades as a solution for the small-to-medium business market for a few years. But their newest blade servers have actually been redesigned with the needs of smaller companies in mind.A good way to understand blades? appeal to smaller businesses is to think about what an enterprise datacenter has that a small shop doesn?t ? and how the new generation of blade servers can help fill those gaps.First, datacenters offer a controlled environment. Heat and dirt are server killers, but a small business may well stick a server under a desk or in a closet. So the new breed of blades comes with a chassis that filters and cools the air, and reduces noise.Second, datacenters rely on dedicated power systems, which smaller businesses just can?t afford. The ?downmarket? blades from HP and IBM, however, run on standard 110-volt lines and have the same three-pronged plugs you?ll find on a kitchen appliance.Third, datacenters have lots of room. A small business has no space for racks, but a chassis filled with six or eight blades takes up no more space than a desktop PC.Fourth, datacenters have dedicated IT support. Small businesses can?t afford that, either. Configuring small-business blades is relatively simple, though, and most customers get them preconfigured from a reseller that specializes in their industry. Either way, the blades should be up and running fairly quickly.For now, HP and IBM are the only major vendors offering blades tailored for smaller customers. Between them, however, they account for about 75 percent of the blade market, so that may not matter. And Dell is rumored to be contemplating a move to this market, and other vendors could follow.The Bottom Line: Why should the big boys have all the fun? Blades designed for smaller businesses let you get some of the datacenter capabilities that just weren?t possible before, without the headaches and costs of a traditional datacenter. Why not check them out?Complete list of 2007 underreported stories: 1.? Java is becoming the new Cobol 2.? Sun Microsystems is back in the game 3.? Hackers take aim at Mac OS X 4.? There are some threats you can worry less about 5.? Companies may have found a way around H-1B visa limits 6.? Open source?s new commercial strategy 7.? End-to-end Ethernet finally arrives 8.? Blade servers arrive for the masses 9.? BI is dead; long live BI 10. Balance of power shifts to software buyers
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Big Blue also shaved the size of the server, so users can fit 14 of the new QS21s into each chassis, compared to seven units of the predecessor blade model.
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BLADE Network Technologies Inc. (BLADE), the leading provider of network switching infrastructure for blade servers, announced its new Layer 2/3 blade switch for HP BladeSystem c-Class featuring high-performance, "in system" switching and routing across 24 Gigabit Ethernet ports.
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All together now Fujitsu has kicked off a major effort to see its 10Gbps networking gear make its way into blade servers from the likes of HP, IBM, Dell and Sun Microsystems. More broadly, Fujitsu expects increased standardization in the blade market in the near future.â¦
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IBM and Intel have announced that they are to open up the design specifications of their BladeCenter platform. The partners say that the publishing of the specs is intended to enable third parties to design and build compatible kit and grow the market.
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Big Blue melds consulting services and assessment tools as it expands its services-oriented architecture business.
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Rallying around the move toward services-oriented architecture, Big Blue rolls out a bevy of updated services.
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IBM IS to share the designs of its blade servers in a bid to boost their popularity among developers. It follows moves to open up the companyâs microprocessor business and give partners more access to its
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November 10, 2004 - Itâs not just the wonderful iSeries that comes out of IBM Rochester. The clever folks at the Minnesota hotbed of technical innovation are also responsible for the BlueGene/L supercomputer
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Tim Dougherty, director of marketing for IBM&#39;s eServer BladeCenter, said the company&#39;s new BladeCenter machines have increased speed, memory, power management and operating system support in order to widen customers&#39; choices.
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IBM has signed up more than 110 companies to build technologies to the open specification for its BladeCenter systems. ADVERTISEMENT.
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IBM is now selling its first computer based on the multicore Cell processor, a blade server called the BladeCenter QS20 that starts at $18,995.
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Big Blue's $18,995 QS20 Cell blade servers are geared for encryption, medical imaging and seismic research.
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fw3 writes &quot;Information week is reporting that IBM and Intel are opening up the standards for the eServer BladeCenter. &#39;The companies will make available the design specifications for IBM&#39;s eServer BladeCenter product.
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I want my IPTV An eager IBM has fired up some new blade servers and complementary bits and pieces for the teclo set.â¦
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IBM on Friday unveiled its lowest-priced-ever BladeCenter chassis and a series of ready-to-go solutions, dubbed &quot;business-in-a-box&quot; to push blades deeper into small- and mid-sized businesses (SMB).