Blade Servers Continue to Perform, but Density-Optimized Computing is on the Rise
The last decade has seen a marked shift in the
world of IT. Blade server enclosures have taken over the market, thanks in no
small part to improved performance and decreased costs. According to a
whitepaper from Hewlett-Packard, blade servers are cheaper to buy overall
because their component density and set up allows servers to share resources
and computer racks. In other words, you can get more for less. Additionally,
that same shared infrastructure means fewer power supplies running. In turn,
that leads to smaller utility costs, whether you're running three servers or a
large data center that can use as much energy as a small town.
In 2014, the effects of these benefits of
blade server rack cabinets can be seen in global sales figures. The
International Data Corporation estimates that the sale of blade servers
worldwide spiked by 7% to $2.1 billion in the second quarter of 2014, putting
them well ahead of IT hardware averages. Even so, new rack computers,
particularly those with a focus on density optimization, look to supplant blade
options as the king of data center racks.
Density-Optimized
Rack Computers Fuse the Best of Blade and Rack Options
Density-optimized rack computers show greater
annual growth than any other server option on the market, blade servers
included. According to a recent report from the tech news site EnterpriseTech,
density-optimized servers generate $768 million a quarter. In total, they
account for 20% of global server rack sales.
The secret to the server technology's success
is the way it fuses the best of blade servers and rack options together. Rack
options have consistently been popular, both because they're cheap and
extremely easy to work with. Blade servers, as aforementioned, come with a lot
of power for relatively small costs. Density-optimized servers, as the name
implies, feature the dense computing power and shared resources of blade
servers, while simultaneously delivering the more user-friendly experience rack
options are so well known for. The combination, as you can clearly see, is
proving potent.
Are you
planning to make the switch from blade servers to density-optimized servers?
Tell us why or why not in the comments below.