The Skinny on Server Blades Page 7

Now and in the Future

Server blade manufacturers have not been immune to the downturn in the economy and the resulting decline in server sales. However, their recovery is predicted to be rapid both because of the advantages that server blades offer and because their approach is new. The savings offered by blades — especially when appropriately matched with a user’s needs — are substantial and go beyond the direct hardware benefits. The “Big Ms” of server farms: monitoring, management, and maintenance can be greatly simplified (read: need fewer people) by using server blade systems.

That’s one of the main reasons why big companies like Hewlett-Packard and Compaq will be jumping into the server blade market in the fourth quarter of 2001. It’s also why many believe that within three to five years this technology and approach to packaging server power will be the mainstay of server sales.