Tuesday May 7, 8:21 am Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: QLogic Corporation
IBM and QLogic to Develop Integrated SAN Architecture For Blade Servers
IBM eServer BladeCenter Systems Simplify SAN Connectivity With QLogic "Fibre Down"
ALISO VIEJO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 7, 2002-- QLogic Corp. (Nasdaq:QLGC - news), the company with a vision of a storage area network (SAN) in every business, today announced that IBM and QLogic have developed a highly integrated SAN architecture for IBM's eServer BladeCenter system. The advanced blade server architecture will feature "Fibre Down," the integration of single-chip Fibre Channel host adapters, management controllers and switches, into IBM's BladeCenter system. The design will help simplify SAN connectivity by eliminating the complex installation of expensive host adapters cards and external switch boxes. In addition, IBM will improve blade server reliability and manageability through integration of QLogic single chip management controllers. IBM eServer Blade Center systems incorporating the integrated new SAN architecture will be available from IBM in the second half of 2002.
"IBM is pleased that QLogic has joined our IBM BladeCenter Alliance Program," said Tim Dougherty, program director, IBM Blade Servers. "By working with QLogic, we will achieve a highly integrated I/O architecture that will make effective disk expansion possible."
The Blade Server Revolution
The Internet has changed the server usage model from single servers to higher density server farms. However, system administrators find deployment and operation difficult. Server resilience and complex cabling are serious problems for server farms. There are also problems associated with securing and managing large numbers of servers.
Blade servers address server farm issues by stacking independent servers within a single cabinet. Each blade is an independent system with its own memory, processor and network connection. Multiple blade servers can be placed in a single rack or enclosure. IDC predicts that the blade server market will reach $3.7 billion by 2006. (1)
Blade Server Infrastructure Powered by QLogic
QLogic offers a family of single chip products that form a complete I/O infrastructure for dense blade servers. Single chip HBAs, switches and management controllers from QLogic provide fast, reliable and scalable storage expansion in an ultra-compact form-factor. |
