Blade Infrastructures and their value

Blade is the buzzword in the modern data center. There is a lot of hype around it, but for the purist who wants to know the facts behind all the jargon jazz, here is the blade world simplified for you.

So what is it that makes the blade servers so significant?

1. Better power and cooling efficiency: The power efficiency of a blade server is much better than the traditional server. In terms of cooling efficiency though, there are challenges since cooling required is much more when compared to traditional servers.
2.  Flexible management functions: Blade servers come with sophisticated management modules, which can be expanded to handle multiple servers from a single interface. This results in greatly minimizing support time, leading to better utilization of data center staff.
3.  Increased server density: The blade server chassis ranges from 6 to 12 RU, thus allowing one to fix up to 64 servers in a standard 42RU rack, and even 128 servers if using a dual server model. This is significant when compared to a traditional 42 server design if using a standalone server model.

Blade servers, though they have their share of pros and cons, are still the preferred choice when it comes to virtualized and modern environments, according to industry experts. A survey conducted by Data Center Decisionsindicated that 51% of respondents choose to use blade servers in their data centers.

According to a report published by IDC, operating expenses were reduced by up to 64 percent when organizations migrated to the blade platform. The ideal way to go if you have the resources to do so and if you are creating a data center from scratch is to design and architect your data center solution with the blade infrastructure as the core. This will result in cost efficiency and enormous flexibility, and also giving you the ability to add complementary technologies for smoother integration. The other way is to lease a data center that uses blade servers, or at least be aware of the benefits so as to make the right decisions for yourself. For more inputs on blade servers and their performance comparisons against traditional rack servers, consult the experts at https://lifelinedatacenters.com/.

Alex Carroll

Managing Member at Lifeline Data Centers

Alex, co-owner, is responsible for all real estate, construction and mission critical facilities: hardened buildings, power systems, cooling systems, fire suppression, and environmentals. Alex also manages relationships with the telecommunications providers and has an extensive background in IT infrastructure support, database administration and software design and development. Alex architected Lifeline’s proprietary GRCA system and is hands-on every day in the data center.