THS Articles

Getting the Edge With Blade Servers

By John Wu

Blade servers have enjoyed a lot of attention from the business community because they can provide the performance of a traditional server, but in a more compact and efficient form. Most major computer companies and a host of smaller innovators have begun selling blade servers to meet the market’s appetite for these compact workhorses.

With the majority of ISPs being small businesses, the prospect of this space saving, yet powerful technology has seemed quite attractive. A universal issue for ISPs, both small and large, is having to deal with the limits on the amount of physical space available and the amount of capital you have to invest in your ISPs. When looking at a blade server purchase, it is important to understand both the obvious and subtle factors that impact your TCO — in this case, “true” cost of ownership.

In the beginning, many ISPs had several ‘home PCs’ stacked on inexpensive wire metal shelving as servers. Not only did this take a lot of space per server, but it didn’t address the heat generation issues, especially as the more servers were added later on.

Now, one refrigerator-size rack can hold more than 100 blade servers. That same space would normally suit about 25 of today’s smallest servers. This is the blade’s advantage: because of their smaller size, they take up less physical space, increasing the data center’s processing power per square foot significantly.

Blade servers entered a marketplace where many ISPs were looking to cut capital and operating expenses but still needed performance. They seemed to be the answer to so many prayers. While blades beat out the ‘home PCs’ from a cost perspective, they are not the perfect solution, in a nice, neat box. The “true” cost of ownership is influenced by many not-so-obvious factors, and any savvy IT manager today would ask the following questions:
• Heat generation and cooling capabilities — Does the server have adequate cooling technology or will you need to purchase additional components?
• Power consumption — How efficient is the server?
• Interoperability — Are you locked into a certain technology? Are you able to purchase enhancements, add-ons in the open market?
• Do-It-Yourself installation or professional installation and consulting — Is the server easy to install or do its complexities warrant additional expense to bring in someone else to complete the installation?

Heat Generation and Cooling Capabilities
In many analyst and industry reports, heating and power consumption top the list of concerns when customers are looking at the blade server option. In some cases dense blade deployment requires additional investment in power and cooling, including purchasing additional equipment.

While blades take up less physical space, blade filled server racks would create “hot spots” within data centers — a problem that the room air conditioning units could not adequately compensate for. Acquiring additional or specialized cooling solution drives up the cost for cooling, which affects operational costs.

Many vendors address this issue by recommending that customers don’t run a fully loaded rack, but it is becoming more of a pressing problem. Others, usually independent blade server vendors, have been able to be more responsive to this issue by including exhaust fans and other reliable cooling systems in their products. This allows customers to fully utilize their blades without spending additional dollars on additional cooling.

The larger vendors, with the majority of the market share, have been addressing this as well, but are slower in coming to market with appropriate changes. In fact, some large vendors are discussing new ways to cool the blades by redesigning the chassis format, though they are saying this is still a couple of years off. This approach forces the client to re-purchase and replace their current, outdated or flawed blades with the newer model.

Power Consumption
First generation blade servers (around 2001) were touted for their lower cost and higher power consumption efficiency. The average power consumed by the CPU of a traditional 1U server ranged from 90 to 150 watts. A blade-server processor, on the other hand, consumed 30 to 15 watts. However, as processors got faster and there was an increase in application workload, this difference in wattage got smaller. Today’s generation of blade servers consumes around 40 to 76 watts or more. Vendors are working to reduce that power consumption and increase efficiency without affecting performance. Like cooling costs, less efficient power consumption also contributes to a higher “true” cost of ownership. When evaluating vendors, it is important to understand both the cooling and power consumption needs of the server.

Interoperability
When you use a certain vendor are you locked into their technology? What will be your true cost to stay current? This can be very different if you are looking at a system built with a proprietary interface over a system built on open standards.

Some people have natural biases or preference toward a specific brand or want to align their technology to a market leader, thinking that they will provide the innovation and development investment necessary to keep them current. The old adage, “You never got fired for hiring IBM” does not necessarily hold true in the evolving blade server marketplace. By overlooking vendors who build on open standards, you may be ignoring a more cost effective means to purchase and maintain server technology that does not require you to sacrifice performance for cost. The cost of upgrades or acquiring more proprietary technology as part of the ongoing cost of a blade server deployment cannot be overlooked. Like other areas of technology, blades are always getting faster, performing better and experiencing overall improvement.

Are you free to purchase parts available on the open market with the assurance they will be compatible? Are you limited to a vendor’s technology and their certified or strategic partners? Proprietary technology tends to come with a more premium price than openly available technologies based on ATX and BTX. Some customers are more comfortable with certain brands and are willing to pay the price, but it is worth knowing there are other options, which may surpass your expectations.

Today, there are many innovative companies selling do-it-yourself blade solutions based on non-proprietary ATX and BTX technologies. This empowers the clients to switch vendors, if one does not suit your particular needs. Open standard solutions allows for competent IT management to upgrade, customize, or build a server solution that works around their business model, rather than buying proprietary solution and having the business model work around this closed standard solution.

True Cost of Deployment

There is the perception that installing a blade server yourself can be a very time consuming venture. This is not necessarily the case, especially with some of the later generation blade servers and chassis set ups based on open standards. For technologies that provide you with a do-it-yourself option, many can be installed in a matter of minutes when either mass assembled or assembled in small batches. In many cases, it would take our average user more time to check their morning email than to install the blade server!

Be careful of setups that require additional “professional services” or installation. This can add a significant cost and you should also consider the costs for a replacement blade, should one go bad.

Today’s ISPs need reliability and bandwidth when it comes to their server purchases, be they 1U or blade servers. As blade server technology matures, it offers a more competitive alternative to the traditional servers. When evaluating a potential blade server purchase, be sure to consider both the obvious and not-so obvious contributors to the “true” cost of ownership to ensure that your purchase not only fits your needs but also your budget.

About the author:
John Wu is chief technology officer for Rackmount.com, a division of PCW Microsystems, a provider of Rackmount servers, chassis and accessories. Wu can be reached at 516-997-5050.