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Oracle Server Blades
Oracle is not resting on its Sun laurels when it comes to blades. It has released several new products in recent times. A new blades chassis is available, for example, with a Direct Current (DC) power option.
At the end of last year, Oracle announced the SPARC T3-1B and Sun Blade X6275 M2 servers, which are aimed at cloud computing and virtualized environments. Two months ago, the company came out with Sun Fire x86 clustered systems, with Xeon 5600 series processors. These new servers set five new world records, four of which were on blades, noted Lovell.
The SPARC T3-1B Server, for example, uses one 16-core 1.65GHz SPARC T3 processor, up to 128 simultaneous processing threads per module, integrated on-chip cryptographic acceleration and 10 Gigabit Ethernet (10GbE), and up to 6.4 terabit-per-second I/O throughput. It is optimized to run Oracle Solaris.
“For enterprises running data-intensive applications and requiring massive throughput with virtualization and consolidation capabilities, the SPARC T3-1B server can manage multiple enterprise applications, middleware, web and application tier workloads, especially within Java environments,” said Lovell. “This server is optimized for the enterprise to meet the demands of enterprise infrastructure workloads in a highly cost-efficient blade infrastructure.”
Another notable blade is the Sun Blade X6270 M2 Server Module. The X6270 M2 is aimed at virtualized application environments where efficiency and flexibility matter. Powered by the six-core Intel Xeon processor 5600 series, the Sun Blade X6270 M2 is designed to be easy to deploy and upgrade. Lovell said it is good for virtualized business applications and enterprise collaboration workloads.
“Both these blades can be combined with the Sun Blade Storage Module, virtualized Network Express Modules, Sun Blade 6000 chassis and Oracle Integrated Lights Out Manager (ILOM) to get an efficient single point management solution under one infrastructure, which helps to reduce complexity and operational expense costs,” he said.
Key features include one or two Xeon processors (up to 3.46 GHz), PCIe Express modules, Oracle single system management, 18 DIMM slots and 282Gb/sec I/O bandwidth.
Further blades are included in the grid below.
Oracle SPARC Servers
For the rest of the SPARC line, Oracle and Fujitsu announced the SPARC VII+ processor at the end of last year for its M-series product line. The SPARC Enterprise M-Series servers run Oracle Solaris and deliver high reliability and scalability.
Meanwhile, the successful Sun T series servers continue to do well under Oracle. One of the new generation is the SPARC T3-4 Server with two to four SPARC T3 processors at 1.65 GHz, 16 cores per processor, up to 512GB of memory, up to 16 PCI Express Module slots and expandability with an I/O expansion unit that delivers 4x the I/O throughput of its predecessor, and ILOM. It has been tailored to run Solaris.
“The SPARC T3-4 server provides high throughput with the scalability and reliability mission critical computing demands,” said Lovell. “This server represents a safe and reliable platform for enterprises by significantly increasing uptime and reducing unplanned service actions.”
Oracle also recently announced the SPARC Supercluster, an infrastructure solution for running Oracle database RAC environments. The SPARC Supercluster utilizes new SPARC servers, FlashFire, InfiniBand QDR, Oracle Solaris, and the ZFS Storage Appliance.
Netra Servers
Netra doesn’t get too much coverage, as Oracle’s telecom oriented server brand. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t receiving attention. In February, the Netra SPARC T3-1 rackmount server and Oracle’s Netra SPARC T3-1BA ATCA blade server, were announced. Both are aimed at the communications industry.
Then, in March, the company announced a carrier-grade Netra SPARC T3-1 2U rack server as well as the Netra SPARC T3-1BA ACTA blade system. This brings the SPARC T3 processor to the communications market segment.
More SPARC-based and Tetra models are included in the grid below.
Oracle Servers at a Glance
| X86 Servers | Blade Servers | SPARC Servers | Netra Servers | |
| Target Deployment | Oracle’s x86 clustered systems are tightly integrated from applications to disk, addressing enterprise workloads. They are suited for virtualization and consolidation, delivering operational efficiency through high performance and scalability. | Oracle’s Sun Blade modular systems integrate x86 and SPARC-based servers, storage and networking capabilities to support complex IT workloads. Controlled by a single system management interface, the architecture of the Sun Blade 6000 chassis is suited for virtualization and consolidation, as well as enterprise cloud deployments. | Oracle’s SPARC servers running Solaris are designed for mission-critical applications that require availability, scalability, and manageability. The SPARC server family includes systems designed for optimal performance on all application tiers, from highly concurrent Web applications to enterprise applications and data warehouses. | Oracle’s Sun Netra servers are comprised of carrier-grade SPARC, and x86-based blade and rack servers. These servers are designed for network equipment providers (NEPs) and communications service providers (CSPs) running mission critical workloads such as core network infrastructure and media services delivery. |
| Operating Systems | Oracle Linux, Oracle Solaris, Oracle VM, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise, Windows Server, and VMware. | Oracle Linux, Oracle Solaris, Oracle VM, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise, Windows Server, and VMware. | Oracle Solaris. | Oracle Linux, Oracle Solaris, Oracle VM, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise, Windows Server, and VMware. |
| Servers |
Sun Fire X2270 M2 Server Sun Fire X4170 M2 Server Sun Fire X4270 M2 Server Sun Fire X4470 Server Sun Fire X4800 Server Sun Blade X6270 M2 Server Sun Blade X6275 M2 Server Module |
Sun Blade 6000 Chassis SPARC T3-1B Server Sun Blade T6340 Server Module Sun Blade T6320 Server Module Sun Blade X6270 M2 Server Module Sun Blade X6275 M2 Server Module Sun Blade Storage Module M2 Sun Blade 6000 Virtualized Multi-Fabric 10GbE M2 Network Express Module Sun Blade 6000 10GbE NEM Sun Blade 6000 Ethernet Switched NEM 24p 10GbE |
SPARC T3-1 Server SPARC T3-1B Server SPARC T3-2 Server SPARC T3-4 Server Sun SPARC Enterprise T5120 Server Sun SPARC Enterprise T5140 Server Sun SPARC Enterprise T5240 Server Sun SPARC Enterprise T5440 Server Sun Blade T6320 Server Module SPARC Enterprise M3000 Server SPARC Enterprise M4000 Server SPARC Enterprise M5000 Server SPARC Enterprise M8000 Server SPARC Enterprise M9000 Server External I/O Expansion Unit |
Netra SPARC T3-1 Server Sun Netra T5440 Server Sun Netra T5220 Server Sun Netra X4270 Server Sun Netra X4250 Server Sun Netra X4200 M2 Server Sun Netra 6000 Modular System Sun Netra CT900 Server Netra SPARC T3-1BA Server Sun Netra CP3260 ATCA Blade Server Sun Netra CP3060 ATCA Blade Server Sun Netra CP3270 ATCA Blade Server Sun Netra CP3250 ATCA Blade Server Sun Netra CP3220 ATCA Blade Server Sun Netra CP3020 ATCA Blade Server |
Drew Robb is a freelance writer specializing in technology and engineering. Currently living in California, he is originally from Scotland, where he received a degree in geology and geography from the University of Strathclyde. He is the author of Server Disk Management in a Windows Environment (CRC Press).
