Author Archive

Cisco Announces Field Replacement of B440 Blade Servers

January 30, 2012

Cisco announced on Jan. 26, 2012 a field replacement program for Cisco UCS B440 Blade Servers.  Cisco Field Notice FN – 63430 describes the problem as a failure of a MOSFET, or Metal–Oxide–Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor, power transistor on the blade server that can cause the component to overheat and emit a short flash which could lead [...]

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Posted in Cisco 5 Comments »

Own a Piece of World of Warcraft

January 26, 2012

Blizzard Entertainment recently announced they are auctioning off some older HP blade servers that previously hosted the popular World of Warcraft (WoW) game with 100% of the proceeds going to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®.  While it is great to own a piece of WoW history, keep in mind, these servers won’t do you any good for [...]

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Posted in News 4 Comments »

Why Blade Servers Will be the Core of Future Data Centers

October 25, 2011

In 1965, Gordon Moore predicted that engineers would be able to double the number of components on a microchip every two years.  Known as Moore’s law, his prediction has come true – processors are continuing to become faster each year while the components are becoming smaller and smaller.  In the footprint of the original ENIAC [...]

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Posted in Future Technologies 24 Comments »

Dell Network Daughter Card (NDC) and Network Partitioning (NPAR) Explained

October 11, 2011

If you are a reader of BladesMadeSimple, you are no stranger to Dell’s Network Daughter Card (NDC), but if it is a new term for you, let me give you the basics. Up until now, blade servers came with network interface cards (NICs) pre-installed as part of the motherboard.  Most servers came standard with Dual-port [...]

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Posted in Dell 22 Comments »

Why Are Dell’s Blade Servers “Different”?

September 28, 2011

I’ve learned over the years that it is very easy to focus on the feeds and speeds of a server while overlooking features that truly differentiate.  When you take a look under the covers, a server’s CPU and memory are going to be equal to the competition, so the innovation that goes into the server [...]

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Posted in Dell 17 Comments »

Customer Success Story with Dell, Citrix and VMware

September 12, 2011

I always find it interesting to hear how customers are using blade server technology “in the real world.”   Brickworks, a $1.7 billion Australian brick company with over 60 locations and 1,000 employees, recently provided The Australian with details about how Citrix XenApp Enterprise combined with VMware vSphere and Dell rack and blade servers helped develop a more efficient workplace for its [...]

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Posted in Citrix, Dell, VMware 3 Comments »

A New Look

August 14, 2011

If you are wondering what is new about BladesMadeSimple.com besides my recent announcement – the answer is the site’s look.  Hopefully you will find the new look easier to navigate than the previous theme, but if you find any issues, please let me know at bladesmadesimple AT gmail.com.

Posted in Uncategorized No Comments »

Change is Coming

August 10, 2011

Change is coming to BladesMadeSimple.com.  I created this site out of my passion for the blade server technology in late 2009.  Over the years, I have worked toward creating a site that can be a repository for blade server news and information.  The site has been my hobby and I have put hours of effort [...]

Posted in Uncategorized 12 Comments »

A Look at Intel’s Cloud Builders Initiative

August 3, 2011

In case you haven’t heard, “cloud” discussions are here to stay and everyone has their own recommendations for you to start building your cloud environment, but which is best for you?  Intel has created the “Intel® Cloud Builders” program aimed at making it easier for you to build, enhance and operate cloud infrastructure.

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Posted in Cisco, Cloud Computing, Dell, HP, IBM, Intel 6 Comments »

Best Practices for Power and Cooling Blades

July 25, 2011

One of the biggest challenges related to blade servers in an existing data center is how to power and cool.  APC wrote a white paper (link below) that explains how to asses the options to best power and cool your blade environment. 

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Posted in Power 6 Comments »