In the past, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) was equated to a workload that was designing something, like building automobiles. However, over the past few 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 recent GPU adoption revolved around utilization of GPUs with Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI). As we look at a “modular infrastructure” (aka blade server) environments, having multiple servers within a small footprint is ideal for VDI. In today’s blog post, I’m going to review what each blade server vendor offers for GPU options. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Dell
What Blade Servers Are Certified as VMware vSAN Ready Nodes?
In this day and age, 99% of datacenter environments are virtualized, however a fraction of those environments are using virtualized storage, aka “vSAN”. I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the full 1000+ page list of VMware vSAN Ready Nodes and deduct all non blade server systems. In this post, I’ll be highlighting only blade server vSAN Ready Nodes. Continue reading
A Tour of Dell’s Power Calculator (EIPT)
Kevin Houston is the founder of BladesMadeSimple.com. With over 24 years of experience in the x86 server marketplace Kevin has a vast array of competitive x86 server knowledge and certifications as well as an in-depth understanding of VMware virtualization. He has worked at Dell Technologies since August 2011 and is a Principal Engineer supporting the East Enterprise Region and is also a CTO Ambassador for the Office of the CTO at Dell Technologies. #IWork4Dell
Disclaimer: The views presented in this blog are personal views and may or may not reflect any of the contributors’ employer’s positions. Furthermore, the content is not reviewed, approved or published by any employer. No compensation has been provided for any part of this blog.
Are Vendors Getting Out of the Blade Server Market?
I recently was asked, am I seeing server vendors exiting the blade server market? If so, what are they selling in place of blades? Honestly, I was surprised by the question. The only whisper of any exits from the blade market were stirred up last year with the rumors of Cisco exiting. I address that in this post, but I wanted to see if there was any validity into what was being asked, so I dug around. I was surprised by what I found. Continue reading
What We Can Expect for Blade Servers in 2022
As we look into the new year, there are some things I think we can expect to see in the blade server market. Here are a few things I think we’ll see in 2022.
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Why Should You Consider Dell’s PowerEdge MX Blade Server?
As an Enterprise sales server technologist for Dell Technologies, one of the questions I get quite often is “why should I consider PowerEdge MX?” It is a great question especially since all of the top blade server vendor offerings have their advantages. In this post, I’ll share my thoughts on the top 3 key differentiators the PowerEdge MX blade portfolio has to offer.
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It’s About Time Cisco – A Look At the Cisco UCS X9508 and UCS x210c M6
Well, it’s about fracken time, Cisco! Today Cisco finally announced information about their next generation UCS chassis. Here’s what you’re going to want to know. Continue reading
Comparison of Ice Lake Based Blade Servers
(Updated 4.8.2021) Intel released the embargo on April 6, 2021 lifting the covers to the 3rd Generation Xeon Scalable Processor. As expected, blade server vendors are starting to release details of their offerings based on this new CPU announcement. Below is an updated chart to help guide you to the best blade server for your project. This version includes Intel DC Persistent Memory (Optane).
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
Why Blade Servers Could Be the Data Center of the Future
One of my tasks as Chief Technology Architect at Dell is to talk with customers about future technologies. When I reflect on my past vision of where the blade server is heading (“The Blade Server of the Future“) I’m surprised at how close we are to that vision becoming a reality. Based upon where we are heading, the blade server format could be the perfect model for the future datacenter, so let me explain why. Continue reading