The report also states that blade users have also become more pragmatic in their approach citing space consolidation as a key driver to adoption. Simplified management and the strong uptake of virtualisation technologies are also pushing this technology deep into the heart of consolidation initiatives.

Slicing in

“User opinion of blade servers has shifted from disappointment over unfulfilled promises, to acceptance and understanding of just where blades fit in the enterprise," notes Bob Gill, TIP's Chief Research Officer. "As vendors have toned down the hype over blades, users are increasingly viewing blades as simply another x86 form factor with unique advantages and disadvantages, rather than some radically new server type. This pragmatic approach is allowing blades to rise above the hype in users' eyes."

“Back in 2002, only 1% of total servers shipped were blades. This figure grew to 7% in 2005 and according to IDC estimates by 2010 17% of worldwide server shipments will be blades. In the US alone this figure is estimates to grow to 22%,” says Ferhad Patel, Intel Regional Business Manager, GCC. In the Middle East, blade deployments are now picking up across key markets, with UAE and Saudi Arabia continuing to lead the race.

According to Patel, blades have grown beyond their initial popularity during the Internet boom days. “At that time, customers wanted density and blades then came into view as a good option, but Pentium processor posed challenges in terms of density. Now with the market maturing, both density and performance is available in one package,” he adds.

Acceptance of blades across the ME is growing as a viable alternative to traditional servers, according to Andy Parkinson, Regional Sales Manager, Middle East and Pakistan, IBM Systems x, Enterprise Server Group.

“There are a variety of reasons. The most accepted reason is simplification because with a blade solution you are integrating not only the server hardware but also your network and fiber channel architecture into a single chassis. This allows you to manage your hardware, network, storage from a single point. In terms of deployment, blades allow you to do much more rapid deployments as compared to racks or tower,” says Parkinson.

“Data centres in the region are also constantly being pressured for power consumption and more importantly cooling and space. Blades therefore offer an advantage because they can potentially double the computing capacity within the same footprint of traditional rack mount servers. Also, the additional management features that are part of the offered solutions make it a more compelling option,” adds Dr Gaith Kadir, GM, AMD Middle East.

Enterprises have certainly been watching. Chip majors and server vendors all note that blades have been featuring prominently in recent enterprise consolidation projects across the region.

“Blades are a reality today when it comes to consolidation efforts. While the amount of information in enterprises is growing, SANs are making information consolidation viable. Blades in this scenario offer more density with lower power consumption and take less space. Connectivity and storage consolidation is also pushing form factors to become smaller and offering more performance,” says Rajesh Deepchandani, Large Enterprises Manager, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Middle East.

Besides consolidation, companies in the region are also considering this technology as an integral part of their growth-ready infrastructure. “In our view, we see customers today coming to us with a clear understanding of the technology and benefits blades offer. The Middle East is actually ahead of the curve and blade servers are becoming a platform of choice for companies that want to grow their infrastructure,” notes HP Middle East Product Manager, Industry Standard Servers Ryan D’Souza.

The forward march of multi-core processors into blade server environments is also being viewed positively. Offering a chance for companies to increase the computing power available within the same power envelop will mean that customers can enjoy more computing capacity without being taxed on power consumption, cooling requirements and/or space limitations.

“Move to multi-core is a natural progression in this segment. FSC for example offers two blade servers – BX 620 (Intel generation) and BX 630 which is AMD-based. The chassis BX 600 can accommodate upto 10 blades in one enclosure with a mix and match of AMD and Intel, thereby delivering computing and strong performance to customers,” Deepchandani adds.

Driving value

Besides performance, there are two major enterprise trends driving adoption- management and business issues regarding departmental sharing of infrastructure.

“Application consolidation in my view is at the heart of this trend. The complexity of managing diverse infrastructures, policy implications and departmental issues over infrastructure control are now driving enterprises to consolidate applications on a shared basis,” notes Intel’s Patel.

Ease of management is another factor. Blades for all practical reasons serve as "unfurnished apartments" for servers, leveraging a common bus, frame, power supply and cabling. The reduction in cabling also reduces the complexity of maintaining servers, while the increased availability of systems management tools is pushing the ease of use of these servers.

“The blades themselves don’t change the dynamics. But their use is being driven by the fact that high end features are now being embedded and integrated along with the blades that are available today at X86 price points,” says Ian Jardin, Technical Lead for Systems Practice at Sun MENA.

Sun is going at this market with its Sun Blade 8000 for general purpose HPC requirements and the 8000C for high-end simulation environments. The company has also announced the launch of its X8420 blade to fit in the 8000 chassis, which it claims is the fastest in its category today.

“Traditional industry sectors like telecom, banking and oil/gas in particular are among the first sectors to adopt blades. And ease of management and deployment to in these sectors matters a lot to businesses,” chips in Bassem Ghoussainy, Enterprise Marketing Manager, Dell Distribution.

Dell, among the key players in this market is pushing its play in the systems management space by offering its Dell Open Manage software which integrates Altiris as a plug in. The vendor’s blade servers also come integrated with Avocent KVM switches, which enable a single point of management.

“Due to increased connectivity options (gigabit Ethernet and fibre channel), advanced processor technology adoption and manageability options, blade server adoption levels are significantly on the rise across the region,” adds David Matrenza, Regional Enterprise Manager, Dell Middle East.

Go Virtual

The entry of virtualisation as a tool for unifying resources is touted by many to be the single major turning point for enterprise consolidation. Deployed so far on a “scale-up” basis (ie: adding processing power by virtualising larger systems), blades now look set to drive virtualisation into the “scale-out mode” (ie: adding processing power through the addition of small units such as blades).

“Currently the average utilisation on a server stands at 20-30%, which means that most server resources are under-utilised. Moving to a multi-core system will however not improve utilisation significantly. However, opting for technology that adds better management or virtualisation capabilities will offer better resource utilisation,” says HP’s D’Souza.

But virtualisation in itself is still needs more end user education. “The question that the user needs to answer is what kind of virtualisation the organisation requires. Today, it can be achieved on an application level, an OS level and now even on a processor level. So it is about the kind of requirement,” he notes.

HP is offering its blade customers the option to integrate its HP Work Load Management Pack (a partitioning solution for cost effectively running multiple applications on the server) and VMWare for virtualisation. “This will facilitate the customer to slice and dice the virtualisation pie the way they need,” adds D’Souza. HP has also introduced storage blades in its C Class range to enable customers to bring storage and computing together.

“Blade technology is enabling customers to come to grips with both consolidation and virtualisation to streamline efficiency. Scale-out using blade servers is picking up and the focus is on offering customers products that are consolidation ready,” remarks Matrenza of Dell.

The road ahead

Although the blade option is no longer taking a back seat to virtualisation, there are still challenges enterprise customers will need to overcome. The route to value according to AMD Middle East’s GM Dr. Gaith Kadir is a combination of multi-core processors, blades and virtualisation that will eventually deliver value in a controlled manner.

“Customers will still scale out. This trend however cannot go on without limits. Power and cooling capacities and space limitations will slow resulting in a push back to a scale-up environment. But going with the current trends and advances in blade technologies and virtualisation the two approaches will reach a middle ground were customers will be scaling out, but in a more slow, controlled and utilised manner through a combination of multi-core, blades and virtualisation,” says Dr Kadir.

The industry will also need to drive standardisation in blade technology. “There are currently 17 different manufacturers for blades and each one sets their own standards. The industry needs to work towards enabling greater interoperability for delivering the real benefit of the technology to the customer,” says Intel’s Patel.

In the mid term however, blade technology and blade servers are set to slice into the mainstream, adding a much needed impetus to enterprise consolidation initiatives.