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
• Flexible servers demand flexible storage
Storage
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.