A lack of blade-server standards may retard market growth of the
space-saving devices, according to a study by Gartner
Dataquest.
Even with potential user concern over a lack of compatibility, the
ever-growing demand for server density (the ability to cram servers
into as small a space as possible) will keep the worldwide blade
server market growing from an estimated 84,810 units shipped in
2002 to more than one million shipments by 2006.
Blade servers, which began to hit the market last year, are servers
contained on a card. The server cards - called blades - can be
installed in a chassis that has multiple slots, rather than
installing servers into a rack cabinet.
The small amount of space the blades require, the ease with which
they can be installed and removed and the management software that
the blade servers use make the product desirable to the enterprise
market, Gartner Dataquest said.
Companies like Hewlett-Packard, FiberCycle. and RLX Technologies
have already entered the blade market. In January, HP released a
Compact PCI blade server that runs the Linux operating system and
also offers support for the set of telecommunication industry
specifications known as Network Equipment Building Standard (NEBS).
Potential users may be discouraged if a company's blade server
appears to be proprietary, the report said. Rack-optimised servers
have a proven track record for working with systems from different
vendors, where blade servers do not, and there is currently a lack
of compatibility that exists between blades made by different
vendors.
Users will eventually demand a standard for blade servers,
according to Gartner. However, since manufacturers are only just
beginning to understand how blade servers might be best deployed
and used, the report suggested that users wait until the market is
more mature before purchasing blade server products.
Though users may be drawn to blade servers as a way to consume less
space and power, Gartner Dataquest recommended that they should
first be sure that blade servers have significant server density
advantages as well as the software and hardware features to bring
useful management and availability features before investing in the
products.