Since the beginning of 2001, "blades" has been one of the major buzzwords of the computing world. Unlike regular computers, blades come with no external case. Instead, they are naked circuit boards containing processors, memory, input-output components, and, more often than not, independent hard drives. Rather than sit on a desk or remain stacked horizontally in a rack, blades slide vertically into a specialised rack that contains all the wiring necessary to hook the computers into the network. The architectural change brings a host of benefits, according to analysts and computer executives. The physical real estate required for computers gets greatly reduced. Computers can also be more efficiently used: an administrator can deploy a batch of blades to handle email in the morning and then convert them to Web servers later. Management software and physical proximity make this possible. Although nearly everyone has adopted the blade ethos for servers or storage systems -- which are already generally kept in centralised computer rooms -- some of the benefits apply to the desktop. For one thing, desktop blades reduce walking-around time. On their desks, users get a monitor, keyboard, mouse and a C/Port, a phone-sized input-output unit for connecting the stuff together. A cable, cloaked in security protocols, connects the C/Port to the user's Pentium 4 computer in the back room. One hundred twelve computers can be squeezed onto a six-foot rack. In the Hill trial, for example, the time required to load software dropped from 9 minutes to 3.5 minutes. With conventional desktops, each PC has to be unboxed, then taken to a computer room, then connected to an imaging station, then taken down for final testing and deployment. In the rack, after the first software image was loaded, it could be replicated across all other desktops, said the Air Force's Ohrenberger. Additionally, blade desktops can bring some perks that aren't practical on standard desktops. ClearCube's racks typically contain one or two spare blades. If someone's PC dies, an administrator can swap the affected employee to a spare blade. Potentially, this could make the technology popular for retail brokerages "where you have hundreds or even thousands of desktops", said Jerry Silva, senior analyst at the Tower Group, which studies the impact of IT on the financial-services market. While exact savings are difficult to quantify, increased computer reliability does cut costs, he added. But what about the data?
The software-management package that comes with ClearCube's blades includes an application that backs up data from one individual drive to two or three others in the same rack. "There's tons of extra disk space everywhere," said ClearCube's Shah, who noted that very few people use up the full 20GB to 30GBs found in drives today. Secure partitions prevent employees from accessing any backup data their PC happens to host. Blading also permits a form of mobile computing. Since the drive and other computing elements are located in a central location, users can log in to the network at any available keyboard and connect to their "desktop", said Shah. The Oklahoma Heart Hospital, among others, has experimented with putting log-in terminals in patient rooms that can be accessed by doctors or nurses with smart cards. Bladed desktops do create security problems, but the company says it has resolved most of these and pushed forward to a point where security actually improves. The ports on the desktop can be blocked. Users, therefore, can't plug unknown, and potentially infected, devices onto the network. "What's available to the outside world, essentially, is a jack" to connect to the network, said Kay. The cable connecting the desktop unit and the blade rack can run for 200 meters, or about twice as long as what's required in the vast majority of office buildings. A secure fiber connection that will let the connection go to two kilometres is in the works, Shah said. A security wrapper prevents data from being sniffed on the connection cable, and the blades are stacked so close together that Ethernet signals would be difficult to separate. With these factors in mind, the company is targeting several markets: military and government offices (where security concerns are paramount), health care (for remote computing) and financial and manufacturing companies (where space is paramount). Nothing's ever perfect, however. Squeezing hundreds of Pentium 4 desktops into a centralised rack requires companies to find space in computing rooms and equip the rooms with adequate cooling and noise baffling. The requisite cooling fans "do make a lot of noise, but it is in the data center", Shah said. The hardware's also not cheap, leading to a equipment bill that can be 50 percent to 60 percent more expensive, after the specialised racks and other equipment is added together. "They are considerably more expensive," said Ohrenberger. Nonetheless, Ohrenberger added, "the total cost of ownership bears it out that in the long run it is better."
See the Hardware News Section for the latest update on everything from MP3 players and PDAs to supercomputing.
Have your say instantly, and see what others have said. Go to the ZDNet news forum.
Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.
