Tag Archives: blade server

Want 400GbE in a Blade Server? Here’s How

A few years ago, the thought of needing multiple 25GbE ports on a blade server was not even a consideration.  In fact, I did a survey 6 years ago and got an overwhelming response that only a couple of 10GbE ports was needed for VMware virtualization efforts.  Today there is now an option to have 8 x 25GbE ports in a 2 CPU blade server – but there are some things you need to know. Continue reading →

What Does the Future Hold for the Blade Server?

One of the goals I have for this blog is to keep it current with news and updates from blade top tier server vendors.  However, over the past year, I have found it harder and harder to find relevant information.   Why is this?  Is it just because we in a lull between new blade server models or is the blade server dying? I decided to dig a little deeper into this question. Continue reading →

A Slick New Way to Get More GPUs on Blade Servers

It should be no surprise that the popularity of accelerators in the datacenter continues to grow.  Last year I wrote a blog post on the GPU options for blade servers.  At that time, the options were limited to either small GPUs like the NVIDIA T4 or mezzanine based GPUs.  The  market really hasn’t added anything more in the GPU-on-blade space until now. Continue reading →

If You Use PowerEdge Blade Servers You Should Know About This

If you are using Dell blade servers, I may have a little known resource that could help you.  Ever heard of the “PowerEdge MX I/O Guide?”  If not, I’m not surprised.  It was primarily used as an internal resource, but now it’s available to the public. Continue reading →

If You Have a Gmail Account You Could Be Helping Find A Cure for COVID-19

Over the years, there have been several community programs that were designed to help take the spare CPU cycles from your PCs or blade servers to build simulations or analyze data that scientists can use to find answers to challenging questions.  Continue reading →

Cisco Next Gen UCS Rumors

As we enter the next decade, rumors of Cisco’s next generation UCS are surfacing.  Whether or not they are true, there is no doubt that the original generation of Cisco’s blade server design is long overdue for a major overhaul – and we may see the replacement this year.  So let’s take a look at what’s being said in the gossip mill. Continue reading →

GPU Options for Today’s Blade Servers

In the past, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) was equated to a workload that was designing something, like building automobiles.  However, over the past two or three years, organizations have realized that GPUs have more value than utilization in Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Learning (ML).  In fact, a large majority of GPU adoption revolves around utilization of GPUs with Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI).  Organizations have realized that VDI running Windows 10 can benefit from GPUs, so GPUs are now becoming a requirement for VDI.  As we look at a “modular infrastructure” (aka blade server) environment, having multiple servers within a small footprint is ideal for VDI.  Therefore, in today’s blog post, I’m going to review what each blade server vendor offers for GPU options. Continue reading →