IBM, launched on Wednesday the eServer BladeCenter HS40, an ultra-slim, 4-way Intel Xeon MP processor-based blade server.
Blades are ultra-slim servers that are stacked in a chassis side by side, much like books on a shelf. Because they take up significantly less space than traditional rack servers, Blade servers enable customers to reduce "server sprawl" and better manage their computing infrastructures.
Comparing from a rack mount perspective, 42 IBM HS40 4-way systems can be placed in an industry standard rack, whereas HP is only able to place 12 of its 4-way ProLiant BL40p blade systems in the same space.
The advantage will allow IBM to offer its customers 3.5 times the processing power of HP's ProLiant blades (168 processors vs. 48 processors).
IBM customers such as Atlanta-based web hosting and online services company Interland, are already looking at the HS40 for streamlining their network of datacenters.
"The BladeCenter HS40 is the ideal system for datacenter consolidation," said Bill Jones, CIO and vice president of operations at Interland.
IBM is the only company providing customers a choice of blades with BladeCenter systems possessing 64-bit PowerPC technology (eServer JS20), or highly scalable 2-way BladeCenter systems with 32-bit Intel Xeon processor technology (eServer HS20).
