IBM Hones Blade Server Plans
IBM
(IBM) - Get Report
is pushing ahead its blade server program, detailing its first switch from
McData
(MCDTA)
and virtualization technology from VMware, an
EMC
(EMC)
company.
IBM will officially announce the blade details on Wednesday. The news likely won't help the company's stock, but because blade servers are one of the fastest-growing areas of technology hardware, the products represent a bright spot of growth amid a landscape dotted with lackluster development.
Blade servers are more cost efficient and less power hungry than are traditional servers used to control business computing needs, such as transaction management, Internet traffic control and data storage. The blades slide vertically into a server shell, which can hold multiple blades, and can be easily swapped in and out.
IBM controls almost 50% of the blade server market, which surpassed $1.1 billion in 2004, according to researcher IDC. The company has helped itself
by opening up the details and specifications of its blades, allowing other companies to develop applications and products around IBM's hardware.
The company's BladeCenter architecture now boasts 215 partners, up from 100 in December. IBM moved to an open-source strategy in September.
"We now see that we can reach even further into the infrastructure to take us to the next level," said Jeff Benck, vice president in charge of IBM's blade operations.
He said these blades were ideally suited to small- and medium-size businesses.
The marketplace for small- and medium-size businesses has become an emerging theme in 2005 for IBM and other technology vendors. Last month, IBM launched a partnership program to help spur development across that market's entire server landscape.
Hewlett-Packard
(HPQ) - Get Report
announced a server program Monday for it as well. In the software space,
Microsoft
(MSFT) - Get Report
and
Siebel
(SEBL)
have also targeted small- and medium-size businesses as areas ripe for growth.
For blades, the semiconductor industry too has rallied to capitalize on growth in this area. IBM makes blade servers using its own Power processors, as well as
Intel's
(INTC) - Get Report
Xeon processors, but blades using Opteron processors from
Advanced Micro Devices
(AMD) - Get Report
are likely on the way. "We have indicated that we will do this," says Benck.
Benck says that interest for AMD-based blade servers is coming from financial institutions and high-performance computing industries, such as life-sciences companies.
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