It’s possible that when blade servers first hit the scene, you were intrigued by their promise to pack more processing power into less space and the consolidation abilities available. For various reasons, including compatibility and pricing concerns, many enterprises chose not to initially implement blade solutions. In these areas and others, blade servers have made strides to the point that adopting a solution warrants reconsideration.
Note The Changes
Today’s blade solutions are based on Intel and AMD x86 processors, something Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT, says translates into greatly improved system performance as those architectures have evolved. “In addition, with x86 systems driving so much growth in virtualization and cloud, blade-based solutions are playing greater roles in those markets,” King says. “In fact, several vendors are delivering blade-based solutions designed specifically for cloud and virtualization applications.”