Server blades from HP and IBM are slated to replace rack servers. When you consider that rack mount servers account for over 30 percent of Intel server shipments at both HP and IBM, that’s a large market. Prashant L Rao finds that server blades will result in consolidation of edge servers, since they are easier to roll out and manage. It will take six to eight months, but in the end blades will occupy a hefty chunk of the Indian SIAS market

A blade server is essentially a server on a card. Vendors promise IT managers everything from the ability to ‘rip and replace’ faulty blades to ‘slashing the costs of your IT infrastructure.’ However, a quick glance at the pricing of these products reveal that companies replacing edge servers won’t be saving much on pure hardware costs. The savings will have to come from the reduced need for IT administration and, most important of all, superior uptime translating directly into RoI (Return on Investment) by minimising disruption and downtime.

Jyothi Satyanathan says centrally hosted applications will become more prominent with blade servers

Blades are for enterprises/data centres
Blades are not for everybody; SMEs might not have much use for them since even a single blade needs an enclosure, which pushes up the price substantially. It only makes sense to buy several blades and an enclosure. This will ensure that the market for blades will largely be in Internet data centres and corporate data centres. If you look at vertical segments, it will be the banking finance and insurance (BFSI) and telecos that will be early adopters of server blades. In the medium term, telcos, chip design companies, scientific research and military establishments and some universities would be likely adopters. Telcos would integrate blades into telecom switches.

In terms of applications that will be run on server blades, the list will be similar to what we see being deployed on rack mount servers today. “The Citrix type of applications (centrally hosted) will become more prominent,” says Jyothi Satyanathan, country manager for the xSeries & Intellistations at IBM India. Expect the application list to include Citrix, edge server applications (anti-virus, firewall, DNS, etc) and telco applications (billing).

Vaibhav Phadnis says HP will launch the Xeon-based dual processor servers in early January 2003

Replacing rack servers
Over 30 percent of SIAS boxes shipped by HP and IBM are rack mount servers. Analysts estimate that rack server sales as a percentage of overall Intel server shipments for all industry players fall in the range of 6-11 percent varying from quarter to quarter. Rack servers accounted for 30 percent of HP’s Intel server shipments in Q3 CY 2002. This was up from 17 percent in Q1 CY 2002. HP’s growth engine has been the DL 380 a 2U server that has proved a smash hit with the BFSI segment in bank data centres and branch offices. Mid and large enterprises who are presently buying rack servers are a ripe market for blades. Today rack servers account for 30-35 percent of xSeries (Intel-processor servers from IBM) shipments. An average deal size for HP is 5-10 rack servers. IBM states that every customer needs an Intel server about 60 percent of the time and that blades are a good option in such situations. IBM blades cost anywhere between Rs 7 lakh-Rs 20 lakh. Blades will eventually supersede rack servers. The shift from rack mounts to blades will really pick up momentum in 6-8 months.

Space — cramming more servers into the same rack chassis
HP believes that customers looking to increase server density will make the move from rack to blade servers. While rack mounts are relatively slim servers, you can fit 42 of them into a rack chassis; blades can run circles around racks. You can squeeze 280 ProLiant BL10e server blades in a standard 42U rack. That’s seven times the density of rack mount servers. IBM’s Xeon-based BladeCenter lets companies put 84 dual CPU blades in a 42U rack.

Centralising edge servers
Today edge servers are largely discrete boxes in scattered locations and an IT management nightmare. By using blades as edge servers and putting them in a corporate data centre, CIOs/IT heads can breathe easy. “In blade servers, what the customer looks for is functionality, ease of use and product quality. IS managers are looking for peace of mind and blades can offer that,” says Vaibhav Phadnis business manager for industry standard servers at HP India.

Ease of deployment
“You can set up hundreds of blade servers in a few hours,” says Phadnis. Applications are installed from an image server. IT administrators can select, say, 20 blades in an enclosure and pick an image to deploy, drag, drop and install. Blades offer remote administration from any station. Blades can be pulled out and replaced with the whole process taking just half an hour—that being how long it takes for applications to be installed on the new blade from an image server. Administrators can define one enclosure to run a particular OS/application combination (say Apache on Linux) and another in the same rack to run Exchange on Windows. This is defined in the server management software.

Dual Xeon blades—the next standard
IBM is already shipping Xeon-based dual processor capable server blades and HP will follow soon. “We will be launching the Xeon-based dual processor servers in early January 2003,” says Phadnis. It’s not just about specs though, servers running Tualatin processors have beaten products sporting Xeons in the past.

“Proliferation will be higher with two processor blades as these will support a broader set of applications,” adds Phadnis.

Here come the blades
Starting in the present OND quarter, expect blade shipments to rise rapidly. Momentum will build with HP’s Xeon blade launch in January, by March-April blades should be mainstream. The winner in all this will be corporates, banks and telcos who will be able to put space earlier occupied by today’s relatively large servers to better use and IT managers at these establishments will get a little respite.