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Vendor Landscape Plus: Blade Server Platforms

Investing in blade servers is not just about buying a server; it is about buying into a server platform.

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CAUTION: This content has been retired, and is no longer being maintained. It may contain information or links that are out of date and/or broken. Please use this solution set with caution.
Serveracquisitionstrategy-storyboard
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Your Challenge

  • The origins of blades are in high performance computing clusters, and limitations on processing, memory, and I/O made them less than ideal for consolidation and virtualization. More recent developments in these areas have enabled blades to be a solid virtualization and consolidation platform with strong market growth.
  • Improvements in server capacity have created the tide that raises all blade boats. Beyond features common to all x86/x64 blades, consider how the servers fit into a consolidated infrastructure that includes the blade chassis as well as networking, storage, and virtualization.
  • Use Info-Tech’s blade server RFP template to document your requirements and score the responses. Use the blade vendor landscape to develop a shortlist. Modify the shortlist to your own context. HP, IBM, and Dell are the leaders overall, but there are lower cost options for more modest deployments.
  • Make a careful study of compatibility and connectivity with the rest of the infrastructure and be sure to freeze configurations to avoid surprises in a rapidly developing product market. These are just two tips from the trenches of blade deployment.

Our Advice

Critical Insight
  • Blades make effective building blocks for a consolidated utility infrastructure. They are increasingly used for server consolidation, particularly where space, power consumption, and management resources are at a premium.
  • However, blades are more proprietary – particularly at the chassis, network connectivity, and management level.
  • First, be sure that blades are really appropriate for enterprise server goals. Then decide which blade is best and which vendor’s approach to consolidation and management is optimal.
Impact and Result
  • While each blade is a full server, blades require a hosting enclosure or chassis to be connected to power, cooling, and networked I/O.
  • The space efficiency of blades means more processing can be concentrated in a smaller area. Shared resources across the chassis improve efficiency and lower physical complexity.

Get to Action

  1. Narrow down your list of appropriate blade server vendors.

    Avoid overspending, underperformance, and compromising of business critical tasks.

  2. Evaluate Blade Server Vendors and the capabilities of their offerings.

    Select the most appropriate offering for business needs, and avoid hidden costs.

  3. Pressure the vendor to reveal all of the details behind strengths and weaknesses.

    Ensure you achieve the lowest cost for the feature set within the blade system.

Related Solution Sets

Build a Server Acquisition Strategy for the Internal Cloud

It's not about just buying a server any more. It's about acquiring capacity for the internal cloud.

Tags

Blade, blade server, storage blade, RFP, consolidation, server, Blade Servers, rack-mount servers, servers, server consolidation, server capacity, blades, processor blades, RFPs, rack-mounted servers, blade implementation, blade acquisition, blade selection, blade vendors, blade comparison

Related Content

  1. Select a Blade Server Platform
  2. Blade Server Vendor RFP Template
  3. Blade Server RFP Scoring Tool
  4. Blade Server Seller Interrogation Script
  5. Storyboard: Build a Server Acquisition Strategy for the Internal Cloud

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Investing in blade servers is not just about buying a server; it is about buying into a server platform.

Companies Who Helped

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Solution Road Map

Other Solution Sets in Server Hardware
1. Build a Server Acquisition Strategy for the Internal Cloud
It's not about just buying a server any more. It's about acquiring capacity for the internal cloud.
2. Select a Blade Server Platform
Investing in blade servers is not just about buying a server; it is about buying into a server platform.
3. Vendor Landscape: Blade Systems
Blades slice into an ever larger piece of the data center pie.
View the full Solution Road Map