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Dec 2001
Blade servers: Thin is in
The server industry stands on the threshold of a major architectural shift. Blade server companies, strongly funded by Wall Street, are taking advantage of the inadequacies of current server designs with a new approach that poses a real threat to the industry giants. The more farsighted of the major IT vendors are making blade servers a centerpiece of their strategy for 2002.
Why? A blade server is a thin board containing one or more microprocessors and memory. It is intended for a single, dedicated application, such as serving Web pages. It offers a number of clear advantages - up to four times the processing power of a typical 1U rack server in a smaller enclosure, cheaper and easier deployment, additional flexibility and a lower total cost of ownership. However, these savings could prove to be just the tip of the iceberg. Increasingly sophisticated management software that works in tandem with blade servers could prove to be the catalyst that advocates of the 'IT as a service' model have been crying out for.
The 451 Group is pleased to announce the publication of an extensive new report on the blade server market. The report provides a comprehensive view of the market and its future direction, including strategic assessments of competitors: the major players, new market entrants, a group of 10 companies to watch and the next wave of startups.
Blade servers represent a potentially massive market, but the industry's future remains far from clear. This report articulates what different companies need to do to be winners in this space by detailing the threats and opportunities and assessing the impact of standards, the development of the server market and the needs of users. The report includes extensive primary research, including interviews with senior management at over 40 hardware and software companies and extensive research of the InfiniBand supporters.
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