Blades for server applications make a lot of sense.But I still question the roi of using pc blades for a terminal environment especially for windows that are x86 dependent. The big gains for server blades are from a AMD Athalon64 or IBM's PowerPC blades. IBM is also developing Power4 and Power5 blade as well. Mercury computing (http://news.google.com/url?sa=t&ct=/0-0&fp=435f105feae9b331&ei=GThfQ9j7KqKs6AGU_IHVDQ&url=http%3A//informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml%3FarticleID%3D171203598&cid) is developing a cell processor blade for IBM as well.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Gregory K. Ruiz-Ade" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Main Discussion List for KPLUG" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: PC blades Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2005 21:27:32 -0700 > > On Oct 25, 2005, at 9:08 PM, Randall Shimizu wrote: > > > So the question then becomes is the blade the right platform > > ....??? After all 10-20 not all that much. Would not a large SMP > > machine be much more suitable.....?? Now of course scalability > > is entirely different for Linux and Window, but does raise some > > interesting roi questions.... > > Well, you have to remember, too, that the original design of these > "client" blades was that you'd have one per desktop on the office > floor. The important bits were on the blade, in the server room, > to simplify maintenance. So, one user per blade. > > Now, if you're talking anywhere from 10-20 users per blade, that's > a significant savings you can realize (if it's really workable.) IBM's implementation is different, they are not replacing the PC. IBM will virtualize the desktop environment on the blade. > The nice thing about blades v. a single large server for hosting > these kinds of users is scalability. Need 10 more users, but your > large SMP box is maxed out? Yup, time to purchase a second massive > server, possibly purchasing another 200-user capacity (at a > 200-user price point) for 10 more users. With the blade solution, > you just slam in another blade (or, worst case, buy another blade > chassis and toss a single blade in it). Much cheaper to scale per > user, and much more flexible, too. > > What if you primarily have Windows (or Linux) users, but need a > small percentage of Linux (or Windows) desktops to support some > application? Big SMP systems as hosts mean you are out of luck > unless you have another large system you can re-purpose. Blades > let you add that capacity as you need it. > > Blade systems, in conjunction with the latest VMWare clustering > solutions and even Xen/Linux clusters, can be made in to extremely > powerful, flexible computing resources for applications which are > not CPU-bound. I.e., 90% of all office computer work. > > Gregory > > -- Gregory K. Ruiz-Ade <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > OpenPGP Key ID: EAF4844B keyserver: pgpkeys.mit.edu << PGP.sig >> -- ___________________________________________________ Play 100s of games for FREE! http://games.mail.com/ -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
