A server architecture that houses multiple server modules ("blades") in a single chassis. It is widely used in datacenters to save space and improve system management. Either self-standing or rack mounted, the chassis provides the power supply, and each blade has its own CPU, memory and hard disk. Redundant power supplies may be an option. Blade servers generally provide their own management systems and may include a network or storage switch. Contrast with blade PC.
Diskless Blades
With enterprise-class blade servers, disk storage is external, and the blades are diskless. This approach allows for more efficient failover because applications are not tied to specific hardware and a particular instance of the operating system. The blades are anonymous and interchangeable. See blade and processor area network.
Disk-Based Blades
Blade servers are widely used in datacenters to save space and ease systems management. This earlier ProLiant unit from HP has redundant power supplies and holds 20 blades in 3U of rack space. The exposed blade on the left is a complete server with hard disk. (Image courtesy of Hewlett-Packard Company.)
Enterprise-Class Blade Server
The BladeFrame from Egenera supports up to 24 blades, each with four Xeon processors. The entire system is managed with Egenera's PAN Manager software via a Web browser. In this picture, one blade is being replaced. (Image courtesy of Egenera, Inc., www.egenera.com)
Diskless Blades
With enterprise-class blade servers, disk storage is external, and the blades are diskless. This approach allows for more efficient failover because applications are not tied to specific hardware and a particular instance of the operating system. The blades are anonymous and interchangeable. See blade and processor area network.
Disk-Based Blades
Blade servers are widely used in datacenters to save space and ease systems management. This earlier ProLiant unit from HP has redundant power supplies and holds 20 blades in 3U of rack space. The exposed blade on the left is a complete server with hard disk. (Image courtesy of Hewlett-Packard Company.)
Enterprise-Class Blade Server
The BladeFrame from Egenera supports up to 24 blades, each with four Xeon processors. The entire system is managed with Egenera's PAN Manager software via a Web browser. In this picture, one blade is being replaced. (Image courtesy of Egenera, Inc., www.egenera.com)
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2009 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- (A close look at Intel's microserver)
- Different?How is this any different from your typical "blade" server format from any number of different vendors? This article is all bun and no beef.Steve G.I think So!!!I believe it's definitely different from blades.Being Micro I believes it means very smaller than usual.If you compare the chassi of blade servers...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-30
- Intel seeks new 'microserver' standard
- Why bother with a new standard?What Intel needs to do is use the pre-existing motherboard form factors like Micro-ATX and Mini-ITX. Why can't they just design a board in the Mini-ITX form factor for a single-socket Xeon 3400-series processor with ECC RAM and dual-GBe ports with the standard fare...
- Discussion threads 2009-10-30
- SAP regaining its mojo?
- Earlier today at SAP TechEd Vienna, Jim Hageman Snabe, SAP senior vice president in charge of products said: "Business ByDesign will be multi-tenant." It was almost a throw away line in a broad conversation discussing SAP's slow conversion to all things SaaS and cloud computing. I...
- Blog posts 2009-10-27
- HP Answers Thin Client Questions
- NOTE: The good folks at HP pointed out that I had used an old version of my document and some factual errors crept into my post. This is a revised version of the post with those errors removed and quite possibly new ones inserted. On September 16th,...
- Blog posts 2009-10-06
- Accelerate Your Cloud Implementation with IBM CloudBurst and Intel Xeon Processors
- Do you need to determine where to start your cloud deployment and provide immediate ROI? IBM CloudBursttm is a pre-integrated solution that allows you to rapidly create and manage your private internal cloud environment while lowering your TCO. Come listen to industry experts from IBM and Intel talk about how...
- Webcasts 2009-10-01
- Eurocrats killing open source softly, says Ellison
- Not so great......when you're on the receiving end, is it Larry? Seems to me all those who so joyfully cheered the EU on against Microsoft were warned about unintended consequences.Carl RapsonIt s blade with two side , becareful not to cut your hand Well its a 2 sided blade Mr...
- Discussion threads 2009-09-22
- Xeon 5500 (Nehalem) servers: a group test
- Intel's Xeon 5500 processor has made a big splash in the server world as the major manufacturers each have their own brands featuring the 45nm Nehalem architecture. But which one is best? ZDNet UK's Alan Stevens puts the top models to the test and chooses a winner: ...
- Blog posts 2009-09-02
- Unlocking Life's Secrets at Columbia University
- Can Intel processors enable progress on the most demanding life sciences applications - and do it within the strict floor space and power constraints of a Manhattan data center? One of the largest academic computing centers devoted to molecular and systems biology says yes. Columbia University's Center for Computational Biology...
- Case studies 2009-09-01
- HP's Hurd: 'Business is stabilizing'; Units (except for services) still take revenue hit
- Updated: Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd said Tuesday that "business is stabilizing" and the company will be an early beneficiary of an economic turnaround. The company also raised its fourth quarter earnings target. As expected, HP's quarter was a mixed bag (statement, preview). The company delivered better than...
- Blog posts 2009-08-18
- Netezza launches new data warehouse appliance family
- Netezza on Monday plans to launch its latest data warehousing appliance, dubbed TwinFin. The appliance, the first in a family of them, promises to scale to a petabyte of data at a lower price point. TwinFin will be priced at less than $20,000 per terabyte. The appliance...
- Blog posts 2009-07-31
- Pivot3 - a different take on unified computing
- Pivot3's Lee Caswell and I spoke about a different take on unified computing architectures and storage centric computing. Lee and I crossed paths while he was with Sun Microsystems. Furthermore, Pivot3's take includes memory virtualization/distributed caching elements as well. Here's how Pivot3 describes itself ...
- Blog posts 2009-07-31
- How many PCs are enough? 5? 10?
- How many PCs are enough? 5? 10?My Count ...8 PC's, 1 Laptop, 2 servers ...But I run my business out of my house ...LudoI want in on this1 RS 60003 Macs2 Laptops2 HP Netservers LH3s4 Desktops.I have been trying to get that number down for years though. Let's See1...
- Discussion threads 2009-07-22
- Business ByDesign: to scale or not to scale?
- As the soap opera that is SAP Business ByDesign rumbles on, I can't help but think of the opening lines in Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1: To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The...
- Blog posts 2009-07-20
- Savvis on Cisco's Unified Computing System
- Bryan Doerr, Chief Technology Officer, Savvis and I communicated about Cisco's Unifed Computing System UCS. Here are his answers to some questions that were posed to him. Since Savvis currently operates 29 data centers (a total of 1.4 million square feet of space), his views could be seen as...
- Blog posts 2009-07-20
- Citrix and Fujitsu cuddle closer together
- Citrix and Fujitsu recently announced that they were taking their long-standing relationship to another level. Fujitisu has signed an OEM agreement with Citrix and will incorporate Citrix technology at a deeper level than ever before. The key questions are where these two companies think that they're going to get more...
- Blog posts 2009-07-14
- AMD fills out six-core Opteron lineup
- AMD fills out six-core Opteron lineupWhy?This ridiculous...I can understand their wanting to be ahead in the market but 6core? It's absolutely pointless currently. There isn't even enough stuff out that utilizes quad cores, not to mention the 64 bit part either. I enjoy drooling over new tech but there has...
- Discussion threads 2009-07-13
- Rumors
- RumorsFor people like me who don't know what "the UCS systems" are/is.http://www.cisco.com/en/US/netsol/ns944/And after you read Cisco's blurb, you still won't know what it is.RE: RumorsJust rumors or this reality...?Ok I hope you listen Michael Jackson Radio Streaming.That to dedicated for him , just click and hear : http://freeradiofm.blogspot.com/2009/07/michael-jackson-radio-muenchen.htmlRE: RumorsCorrect me...
- Discussion threads 2009-07-08
- HP ProLiant BL465c G5 Server Blade 2000 User Bronze Tier Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Performance Brief
- There are many configuration details that must be considered when deploying Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Exchange. Exchange architectures can incorporate different server, storage and application availability features in order to support different tiered service level requirements. To better understand these hardware and application deployment options, HP has developed a series...
- White papers 2009-07-01
- KNEIP Reduces Total Cost of Ownership by 20% With Virtualization and Consolidated IT Infrastructure
- KNEIP wanted to reduce the cost and complexity of IT maintenance across the company's 50 disparate servers and provide a flexible IT infrastructure that enables a faster time-to-market for new services. The challenge was to provide a highly available and scalable database infrastructure for data and applications on which KNEIP's...
- Case studies 2009-07-01
- Cisco's commodity server foray likely to boost share, but at what cost?
- Cisco's move to offer high-end integrated blade servers was one thing, but there are rumblings about its latest effort to focus on lower-end rack-mount hardware. The networking giant in early June announced that it would offer rack-mount servers, a commodity market that could give Cisco more market...
- Blog posts 2009-06-29
Neighboring Terms
Premier Vendor Content Whitepapers, webcasts & resources from our Power Center Sponsors
- The best support in the Linux business
-
If Linux is going to power your mission-critical applications, you'd better have the best support known to business. Novell was rated the top provider of Linux technical support.
- Learn more >>
- The more you simplify, the more you save
-
When you transition from your existing Red Hat environment to SUSE Linux Enterprise from Novell, you can recognize dramatic cost savings, perhaps as much 50%
- Learn more >>
- Learn more about tools to grow your business
-
The Business Essentials Guide provides you useful tools and templates to help grow your business and save you time with automated shipping solutions.
- Save time with the UPS Business Essentials Guide
- Keep Up With The Latest In Document Management with The DocuMentor.
-
Doc delivers the scoop on today's enterprise content management, printer maintenance, and all other issues related to document management. It's the DocuMentor Blog.
- Learn more >>
- New Online Dashboard for IT Leaders
-
Read about top issues IT decision-makers face every day, plus get cost-effective solutions to real-life IT problems.
- Learn more >>
- Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online - Free Six-Month Trial for Eligible Organizations
-
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online provides fast online access, simple contact management and better sales performance for a low monthly cost - the best value on the market today.
- Learn more about the free, six-month trial offer>>
Popular Sanity Saver Videos
