In January, I made one of my semi annual pilgrimages to WeirdStuff, the amazing computer salvage store in Sunnyvale California. While prowling the back halls, between a smoke testing apparatus and a broken plotter, I spotted a Cubix ERS chassis. This brought back a flood of memories, since I purchased just such a device early in my career. This proto-blade server system was a … [Read more...] about Reminiscing About the Cubix ERS, My First Bladed Server System
blade servers
Where Did Blade Servers Come From?
Blade systems allow compact, stripped-down servers to be mounted in a chassis with shared power and I/O support. Among the benefits of blade servers, efficiency, manageability, reliability, performance and flexibility stand out as unifersal. There are lots of blade systems available today, and even more produced in the past, that include some or all of these capabilities and … [Read more...] about Where Did Blade Servers Come From?
Concerning HDS
I've been following the progress of Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) for well over a decade. When I participated in high-end enterprise storage system shootouts as an end-user, HDS routinely placed second against EMC, HP and NetApp in the, and the decision was always a close one. But the storage market has changed, with nimble startups innovating around established competitors and … [Read more...] about Concerning HDS
Innocence, Fairness, and Technology Benchmarks
HP recently commissioned Tolly Group to benchmark their BladeSystem c7000 against the Cisco UCS 5100. The short report focuses on two results, and reads like so many competitive benchmarks in the IT industry: Tolly focuses on metrics that highlight the strength of HP's solution and the weaknesses of Cisco's. I do not dispute the accuracy of these results, and HP and Tolly are … [Read more...] about Innocence, Fairness, and Technology Benchmarks
The Truth About HP’s Tech Day
Well that was interesting! I spent Monday and Tuesday with a dozen bloggers in Colorado Springs learning about HP's key StorageWorks products from the executives and engineers of that storied company. Throughout the event, we listened, asked tough questions, and tweeted incessantly. HP Tech Day generated an avalanche of publicity for the company, including press articles and … [Read more...] about The Truth About HP’s Tech Day