This book is intended for those responsible for a variety of phases of evaluating and implementing blade server systems and server virtualization technologies. These phases include assessing your needs and evaluating the benefits of these technologies; analyzing the approaches and architectures of various alternatives; comparing and contrasting different vendor solutions; planning and preparing the data center for implementation; understanding trade-offs, pitfalls, and other considerations; and finally going into production.

To help you find the information appropriate for the phase you are in, this book is divided into four major parts, plus the appendices. Part I: Technology Evolution Covers a brief history of related computing technologies, discussing a number of recurring themes. It then provides a more detailed history and timeline for blades and virtualization and their evolution since 2001 and discuses blades and virtualization as significant evolutionary steps, outlining the benefits they offer. Part II: A Closer Look Examines the architectures and specific features of blade server systems and their components, as well as the various types of virtualization and architectures/features. It also discusses related issues such as clustering, management, and pertinent standards. Part III: Hardware, Facilities, and Software Considerations Offers questions to think about when implementing blade solutions and virtualization, including blade hardware considerations, system software considerations (focusing on virtualization), and data center facilities planning (power and cooling). Part IV: Solutions Presents a matrix-based approach for applying decision criteria in differentiating products. This section includes a blade server system matrix and a server virtualization matrix, with available products assessed as of 2006. It also offers an analysis of available blade and virtualization solutions and discusses user case studies, with production implementations of blades and virtualization together. Finally, it offers a glimpse into the future of blade system and virtualization technologies. Appendix A: Vendor and Product Information Information in this appendix was provided directly by the blade and virtualization vendors to give an overview of their relevant product offerings and market focus.

Appendix B: Specifications and Standards Relevant management and other standards and specifications are outlined along with online resources for more-detailed information. Glossary Quick-reference definitions of blade-server-system and virtualization terminology. We hope you find these sections helpful as you decide whether and/or how to use these technologies to your best advantage. We also hope you find the book accurate, but we know that we are not perfect, and that mistakes do happen. If you find errors in the book or you have questions that remain unanswered, please let us know. We will attempt to make corrections available online at www.focusonsystems.com, and hopefully prevent others from sharing your frustration, while improving the quality of our information.

Over the past 40 years, tremendous advances in the size, speed, costs, usability, and management of computer technology have been made. From the mainframe era of the 1970s, through the PC and workstation era, the client/server era, and the Internet era of the 1980s and 1990s, and now to the current consolidation era, computing has changed. As a result, the world had been transformed. Many of these changes have occurred through a slow evolution; however, some technology advancements caused major paradigm shifts both within IT and in business operations. The commoditization of the PC, for example, created a paradigm shift in computing that is still evident today. The popularization of the Internet provides another example. The most recent evolutionary step in computing has been the introduction of blades and virtualization. Today blades and virtualization, as complementary technologies, promise to be the catalysts for the next revolution in computing. Blades and virtualization are key enablers of true utility computing, an environment in which components are added (provisioned) when they are needed, where they are needed, and only for as long as they are needed to give control back to businesses.