IBM&#39;s BladeCenter Spec Gains Support
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IBM and Intel have signed up more than 100 companies to build products that support the BladeCenter blade server specification since the open-source spec was made available in September.
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Hoping to accelerate the acceptance of blade servers, IBM and Intel on Thursday will lay bare their jointly developed technical specifications for its BladeCenter platform that will allow developers to customize add-on products and solutions.
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five new HS20 models and one new JS20 blade server. The company also is rolling out new features designed to improve the performance of BladeCenter systems.
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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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Dell is back in the blade server ring with the introduction of its PowerEdge 1855 blade servers. The company is hoping to prove to customers that its new blades have significant cost savings and performance
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With today's expected announcement, hardware vendors will get access to the BladeCenter specifications by signing a seven-page licensing agreement, which grants users the right to license the specifications for certain types of products.
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(InfoWorld) - IBM announced an upgraded version of itsÂ blade server based on the Cell processorÂ on Wednesday, adding memory and data throughput for better performance on high-end applications, such as graphics and finance. IBM also shaved the size of the server so users can fit 14 of the new IBM BladeCenter QS21s into each chassis, compared to seven units of its predecessor, the QS20. The new version can also function in a diverse blade environment, working alongside computers based on the x86 or PowerPC chip architecture to assign workloads to the most efficient platform, said Paula Richards, product line manager for Cell systems at IBM. "We're seeing many applications where users want to actually marry a quad-core Intel or AMD blade with a Cell blade, so they can use the standard blade for basic workloads, then push their mission-critical, exotic applications off to the Cell platform," Richards said. IBM will begin selling the QS21 in October to users in industries that need to run visual computing tasks, such as 3D rendering, and time-critical jobs like compression and encryption.Â The system relies on the Cell Broadband Engine processor, created for Sony Computer Entertainment's PlayStation 3 gaming system by the consortium of IBM, Sony, and Toshiba. The QS21 features two 3.2 GHz Cell processors, dual Gigabit Ethernet networking, and Red Hat's Enterprise Linux 5.1 OS. At its maximum density in high-performance computing clusters, the system can run as fast as 6.4 TFLOPS (tera floating point operations per second) in a BladeCenter H chassis, or 25.8 TFLOPS in a 42U rack. "We're not trying to be a general purpose platform here. If you want to run your monthly statements or ERP, that's not what this is about," said Richards. "This is for time-critical, highly intense workloads like financial applications, digital video surveillance, medical imaging, or even digital media and entertainment. Jobs where time is money." The product will supplement IBM's lineup of blade servers, which also includes products running on IBM's PowerPC chips, Intel's Xeon or Core 2 Duo chips, andÂ AMD's Opteron processor. By upgrading the performance of the Cell version of the BladeCenter, IBM will be able to reach more corners of the highly specialized field of high-performance computing, one analyst said. Users buy the Xeon and Opteron BladeCenters for general purpose computing, the PowerPC BladeCenter for jobs in a Unix environment, and the Cell BladeCenter for compute-intensive applications like signal processing and image analysis, including designs from Mercury Computer Systems, a military and aerospace industry contractor, said Nathan Brookwood, an analyst with Insight 64. "They all do different things, so this is a technology update instead of a big change in positioning," Brookwood said. In concert with the QS21, IBM announced version 3.0 of its SDK for Multicore Acceleration, designed to streamline the process of application development for the new platform. IBM will launch the SDK for Multicore Acceleration on October 19, and launch the QS21 on October 26.
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IBM on Friday announced it has signed up 115 companies since early September to develop for its eServer BladeCenter open specification it co-authored with Intel.
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(Source: HP)  The HP Integrity BL860c Server Blade brings together the value of Integrity servers and the economics of the HP BladeSystem.
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(InfoWorld) - IBM Corp. is adding to its blade server line with an upcoming model targeted at small-to-medium-sized businesses. The BladeCenter S system is packaged to include server, storage, input-output connections to a network and software integrated into a single chassis. IBM declined to provide pricing information but said it plans to begin shipping the product in the fourth quarter. "BladeCenter S simplifies IT for our customers," said Alex Yost, vice president and business line executive for IBM's blade products. "Set up is three easy steps: Take it out of the box, plug it in and run the wizard to get it up and running, much like you might do a PC today." The new model is small enough to sit on a desktop, runs on standard 110- or 220-volt electrical current, requires no raised floor, and features simplified cabling compared to other servers, said Yost. A BladeCenter S system can include up to six blade servers and will include software for running a typical office environment, such as antivirus protection, VOIP (Voice over IP) phone service, e-mail and file-print functions. IBM cited an IDC research forecast showing blade computer market revenue growing to US$11 billion by 2010, from $3 billion in 2005. IDC research also forecasts blade sales to account for 18.1 percent of all server sales by 2011, from 6.6 percent this year. Blades are appealing to data center managers because they are smaller and more energy efficient than rack servers. But in the competition among server vendors for blade sales, IBM comes in second. Hewlett-Packard Co. held a 40.9 percent share of the global blade server market, while IBM held 35.2 percent, also according to IDC. HP on MondayÂ unwrapped BladeSystem bc2000 and bc2500 machines, claiming they reduce IT management costs while improving data security.
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IBM today opened up its trim blade hardware architecture in a move to entice third-party hardware makers to support the BladeCenter platform.
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Digicor is preparing for the release of Supermicro Computer's first blade servers, saying the new products would strengthen its product line up and provide welcome competition in the blade server market.
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How about an embedded processor that&#39;s designed to deliver a quantum leap in performance and system bandwidth while keeping power in check?
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IBM (NYSE: IBM) is upgrading its blade  server line, taking the wraps off six new products in addition to rolling out features designed to improve the performance of BladeCenter systems.
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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 announced last Friday a lower-cost blade server option--a pared-down chassis geared for small and midsize businesses. The new Express version of IBM&#39;s BladeCenter chassis still can accommodate as many
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In an effort to encourage hardware vendors to build components for the blade platform they co-develop, Intel Corp. and IBM Corp. on Thursday will open up parts of the BladeCenter design specifications, according to documents obtained by IDG News Service.