There is Blade.org (http://www.blade.org ) that was started by IBM. HP and Dell are reluctant to join and have carping because IBM is so far ahead, both in terms of technology are (IBM holds 42%, HP 34% )marketshare..
IBM's Bladecenter has widest selection of blades of any companies. IBM outstrips the competition by leaps and bounds with their processor technology. HP and Dell and particular is showing the limitations of x86 technology. I am quite amazed that Dell has been so reluctant to use the AMD chips. They must be getting quite a discount from Intel. HP & Dell are under quite a bit of pressure from IBM so they are obviously upset. ----- 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 >> > > > > -- > [email protected] > http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tracy R Reed" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Main Discussion List for KPLUG" <[email protected]> Subject: Re: PC blades Date: Tue, 25 Oct 2005 22:23:36 -0700 > > 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.... > > I second everything Gregory said. The only thing I don't like about > blades is that they are all proprietary and expensive and seem likely to > lead to hardware vendor lock-in. I would not invest in them unless there > was an open standard implemented by several manufacturers. The prices on > the IBM and HP blade systems are just astronomical. > > -- > Tracy R Reed > http://copilotconsulting.com > > > -- > [email protected] > http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list -- ___________________________________________________ Play 100s of games for FREE! http://games.mail.com/ -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
