Introduction to Storage Networking
The New Datacenter
Blade Computing
• Modularized servers:
– Add CPUs, LAN/SAN ports, management
capabilities by snapping in cards (blades)
– Can support heterogeneous operating
systems in the same chassis
• Allow dynamic, adaptive
server infrastructure
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Blade computing is a more modular architecture than rack-optimized servers:
A blade is a hot-swappable hardware device, such as an individual port
card that adds connectivity to a switch. A typical blade is either one or
three rack units high (1U or 3U).
A blade server is a thin, modular circuit board, containing one or more
microprocessors and memory, that is intended for a single, dedicated
application (such as serving Web pages) and that can be easily inserted
into a space-saving rack with many similar servers.
Because blade servers usually share a common high-speed bus, they
create less heat and thus save energy costs as well as space. A blade
server is sometimes called a high-density server.