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Cathleen A. Gagne, Senior Editorial Director
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Featured News 
IBM,
partners plan to launch BladeCenter community
IBM, in collaboration with Intel, announced plans to form a partnership around BladeCenter that it believes will drive development around the technology. HP
develops SAS-based storage blade
HP is working on a SAS-based storage blade for its blade server product. Check out the benefits and limitations of this approach. Cooler
Nocona processors to power IBM blade servers
IBM plans to start powering blade servers with low voltage Nocona processors. Chips with the Nocona core consume about 55 watts, little more than half of the 103 watts consumed by the regular Xeon. AMD pins
hopes on blades
AMD is betting on dual-core 64-bit Opteron processors to help close the market share gap with leader Intel. AMD says HP, IBM and Sun will begin shipping blade servers with the new chip this year, which may give AMD a boost. IBM
finally launches Opteron blade servers
After being badgered about its lack of support for the Opteron processor in its BladeCenter blade server product line for the past two years, IBM has finally relented and admitted that maybe there is a place for the Opteron in its blade servers after all. HP
promises to deliver Linux telecom blade servers
Hewlett-Packard said it will create a line of specialized blade servers for the telecom and service provider industry that meets the AdvancedTCA standards. IBM
promises to boost blade servers and break HP's spirit
IBM's blade server plans for 2006 include a 4x infiniband blade chassis in addition to its existing BladeCenter model, and blades with the new Intel dual-core Dempsey chip. Server
Specs: Blade server roundup
A compilation of blade server news, including IBM's new blade pricing model and HP's acqusition of RLX.Expert Advice & Analysis Blade
servers help cut through storage challenges While many enterprises turn to blade server
technology to simplify data centers, cost savings are another major draw. This overview of the
technology and its history will help you begin to gauge whether or not blades are the right
solution for your IT needs. Q&A:
Vern Brownell, founder and CTO of Egenera
Vern Brownell has a vested interest in solving complexity problems in the data center. He may have had a hand in creating them. Cooling
blade servers
SearchDataCenter physical environment expert Robert McFarlane answers a user's question: "How much air movement does each blade server typically need for cooling?" Heat relief for
data centers using blades
Blade servers are selling like hotcakes, but they put out nearly as much heat as the griddle. And while blowing loads of cold air through vents may have staved off the problem temporarily, it just doesn't cut it anymore. En Garde! Blade
servers cut through the clutter
Blade servers may be able to make your data center easier to manage, as well as saving space, cabling, power and more. And if you move to Linux on a blade server setup, you have an additional benefit: You can access the full panoply of open source software that's available for zero licensing cost. Cooling
high-density racks
SearchDataCenter exepert Steve Madara explains how data center cooling technology has kept pace with equipment densities, and what solutions are available that not only provide the capacity to meet the today's requirements, but have the flexibility to adapt to the next generation of equipment. Installing
and configuring VMWare ESX Server on blade servers
This guide provides instructions for installing and configuring ESX Server on various vendors' blade servers, including servers from HP and IBM.Webcasts & White Papers Server
Consolidation: Moving from RISC to Blades
Discover if, when and why an enterprise should move from Unix-based RISC or SPARC servers to inexpensive AMD- or Intel-based blade servers, providing optimal manageability and agility. Led by industry analyst, Joe Clabby, you will learn tips on implementing successful server consolidation projects and the potential "gotchas" that can derail a smooth consolidation. Make
the Case: Business Case Template for Blade Servers
This job aid, from ZDNet, will help you make the case for putting blade servers in your data center. To
Blade or not to blade - That is the IT question
This paper, published by members of IBM's Server Group, compares IBM BladeCenter with other IBM rack-optimized servers, and shows which may work best in various environments.
This was first published in December 2005