Tatung Co., the Taiwanese firm known for its SPARC-compatible computers, launched a new blade server this week.
The new product, called the TUD-2016 Ultra Dense Blade Server, is unique because it has a built-in Gigabit Ethernet port, said James Hwang, director of support and system applications, in San Jose, Calif.
“You can eliminate a lot of cable issues,” Hwang explained. The product is for low-power data center uses, he said.
Besides having the large networking bandwidth, up to 16 server blades, 2 management blades, and 2 switching blades can fit in a 2u cabinet, with 336 servers per standard 19-inch, 42u rack.
Each blade has an Intel Corp. low-voltage Pentium III processor at 800 MHz, 512MB to 1GB of ECC memory, 30GB or 40GB hard disk drives and dual 10/100Mb Ethernet ports connected to an internal passive backplane. A front-mounted keyboard, video and mouse console is built-in, as well as a 600-Watt, hot-swappable power supply.
Each blade currently supports Red Hat Inc.s Linux and Microsoft Corp.s Windows 2000 operating systems. Each ships with a 16-way license for Amphus Inc.s ManageSite-SE 1.0 software.
The product are priced starting at $4,695. Another version, due late this year or early next year, will have a 3u form with higher-end processors, targeted for application servers. It will have 2GB of RAM and dual hard drives.
Tatung will announce OEM partners “in the near term,” Hwang said.
“Where Tatungs been successful in the past, youd expect itd give them a leg up” in the blade arena, said John Humphreys, an analyst with International Data Corp. Management software bundling is a benefit to customers, he added, and the Tatung/Amphus relationship is a tight one, he said.