Blade Servers

A blade server is a slimmed-down computer server designed to slide into a larger chassis that provides common networking, power and cooling functions to all the computers within the case.

This example from Dell shows how 60 blade servers can fit in the same amount of data center rack space as 42 conventional ones matching the 1U standard for rack-mounted servers.

The basic components that allow a computer to store information and process instructions are crammed onto the compact blade card, but power supplies, fans and network cards are typically not included because the blade chassis takes responsibility for p

Blade servers slide into slots in a blade server chassis, such as IBMs BladeCenter.

Connectors at the back of the blade server unit allow it to plug into the chassis.

Fans and power and networking connectors in the back of the chassis provide common services to all the blade servers. Often, the blade server chassis includes an integrated network switch.

Blades help reduce the tangle of power and network cables running into server racks, often by a factor of more than 10-to-1.

There are also negative consequences to the high densities achieved with the use of blade servers. While the vendors will tell you that per-server power and cooling costs are less than for comparable stand-alone servers, Gartner points out that the pow