29-10-2012, 04:33 PM
SEMINAR REPORT ON BLADE TECHNOLOGIES
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ABSTRACT
A blade server is a stripped down server computer with a modular design optimized to minimize the use of physical space and energy. Whereas a standard mount server can function with (at least) a power cord and network cable, blade servers have many components removed to save space, minimize power consumption and other considerations, while still having all the functional components to be considered a computer. A blade enclosure, which can hold multiple blade servers, provides services such as power, cooling, networking, various interconnects and management. Together, blades and the blade enclosure form the blade system. (Different blade providers have differing principles regarding what to include in the blade itself, and in the blade system altogether.)
In a standard server-rack configuration, 1U (one rack unit, 19" [48 cm] wide and 1.75" [4.45 cm] tall) defines the minimum possible size of any equipment. The principal benefit and justification of blade computing relates to lifting this restriction so as to reduce size requirements. The most common computer rack form-factor is 42U high, which limits the number of discrete computer devices directly mountable in a rack to 42 components. Blades do not have this limitation; as of 2009, densities of up to 128 discrete servers per rack are achievable with blade systems.
INTRODUCTION
With the high cost of data center floor space and current advances in technology, new installations with denser cabinets that require more power and cooling continues to be the trend. Besides the challenges that new installations present, equipment cabinet upgrades can also be a problem as the existing power and cooling currently provided may not support the new cabinet configuration. Surveys show that Information Technology equipment is typically replaced every 2 to 5 years depending on the individual organization and its needs. Surveys also show (See Chart 1) that when asked about their top 3 concerns; Heat/Power Density is the number one concern of Data Center Management.
HISTORY
Developers placed complete microcomputers on cards and packaged them in standard 19-inch racks in the 1970s soon after the introduction of 8-bit microprocessors. This architecture operated in the industrial process control industry as an alternative to minicomputer control-systems. Early models stored programs in EPROM and were limited to a single function with a small real-time executive.
The VME bus architecture (ca. 1981) defined a computer interface which included implementation of a board-level computer installed in a chassis backplane with multiple slots for pluggable boards to provide I/O, memory, or additional computing. The PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group PICMG developed a chassis/blade structure for the then emerging Peripheral Component Interconnect bus PCI which is called Compact PCI. Common among these chassis based computers was the fact that the entire chassis was a single system. While a chassis might include multiple computing elements to provide the desired level of performance and redundancy, there was always one board in charge, one master board coordinating the operation of the entire system.
PICMG expanded the Compact PCI specification with the use of standard Ethernet connectivity between boards across the backplane. The PICMG 2.16 Compact PCI Packet Switching Backplane specification was adopted in Sept 2001 (PICMG specifications). This provided the first open architecture for a multi-server chassis. PICMG followed with the larger and more feature-rich Advanced TCA specification targeting the telecom industry's need for a high availability and dense computing platform with extended product life (10+ years). While Advanced TCA system and boards typically sell for higher prices than blade servers, Advanced TCA suppliers claim that low operating-expenses and total-cost-of-ownership can make Advanced TCA-based solutions a cost-effective alternative for many building blocks of the next generation telecom network.
FEATURES
Essentially, blade servers are a card on the server: a single motherboard that contains a complete computer system, including processors, memory, network connections and related electronic devices. If you insert a number of blade server rack or cabinet in the plane, then the rack or cabinet infrastructure can be shared, at the same time with redundant features. Recognized the advantages of blade servers have two, one to overcome the shortcomings of the cluster server chip, and the other is optimized to achieve the cabinet.
Lower Hardware Costs
Server with the traditional difference is that each blade server rack and does not need a separate infrastructure, relatively low-cost blade servers. Multiple systems through the sharing of power and cooling equipment, management of hardware and cabling systems can greatly reduce the cost of each server.
Simplified Deployment and Maintenance
The deployment of multiple servers is a time-consuming and resource-intensive process. Administrators need to be installed on each server rack for power and network cabling, and to install the software. In high-density environment, in particular the deployment of wiring is a headache in one of the problems. The use of blade servers, administrators only need to be installed on the rack and wiring, no need to separate the blade server routing
To Reduce Power Consumption
Blade servers in order to reduce power consumption, the majority of suppliers will be in some blade servers use low-power processor. Even if the blade server does not use low-power processors, the power consumption is less than "comprehensive" server, blade server power consumption because fewer components. In addition, suppliers can afford to use high-efficiency power supply costs, because power will be shared across multiple servers. In addition, blade servers as a result of lower power consumption, they produce less heat, thus reducing the power consumption of the cooling system.