Rackable Systems is going to include IBM’s BladeCenter servers in its ICE Cube modular data center offering, its idea of what you can do with a shipping container. Under its deal with IBM, BladeCenter T or HT systems will be the only blade server platforms available for custom ICE Cube implementations globally.
IBM preens that BladeCenter meets Network Equipment-Building System (NEBS) Level 3/European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI) requirements, so are ideal for use in telecommunications environments and carrier facilities. They are also designed to withstand extreme environments where modular data centers are often deployed, such as remote construction sites or oil fields.
Rackable figures that if it mutters the IBM incantation it’ll expand its market reach to new customers, new fault tolerant workloads and new markets seeking products that meet NEBS requirements.
Rackable is also joining Blade.org, the IBM-Intel blade consortium, and said it would contribute to development and innovation around the BladeCenter platform.
The ICE Cube is available in 20- or 40-foot containers and BladeCenter-specific configurations should reach densities up to 1,344 dual-socket, quad-core Intel Xeon blades, or 672 quad-socket, dual-core AMD Opteron blades.
ICE Cubes, which conjure up visions of cloud computing and Web 2.0, are also available with Rackable’s own 2U rack-mounted servers.
HP, which recently announced its own shipping container widgetry, currently dominates the blade market, with 46.9% market to IBM’s 30%, which must irritate IBM like poison ivy considering it once held the lead. It suggests that IBM needs Rackable as much as Rackable needs IBM.
Like Sun, IBM is also in the shipping container data center business.
About Maureen O'Gara Maureen O'Gara is the Virtualization News Desk editor of SYS-CON Media. She is the publisher of famous "Billygrams" and the editor-in-chief of "Client/Server News" for more than a decade. One of the most respected technology reporters in the business, Maureen can be reached by email at maureen(at)sys-con.com or paperboy(at)g2news.com, and by phone at 516 759-7025.
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Rackable Systems is going to include IBM’s BladeCenter servers in its ICE Cube modular data center offering, its idea of what you can do with a shipping container. Under its deal with IBM, BladeCenter T or HT systems will be the only blade server platforms available for custom ICE Cube implementations globally.
