ProLiant BL20p. Hewlett-Packard Co., (800) 888-9909, (650) 857-1501. www.hp.com
HP BL40p
For shops that require more horsepower for their servers, the BL40p is up to the task. It features a quad processor Xeon MP box with five (yes, five!) 10/100/1000 network adapters. For storage, the BL40p has four hot-swappable hard drives, making RAID
Level 5 an option. It also supports a Fibre Channel connection via the proper interconnect module. For SAN connectivity, the BL40p has two PCI slots available, providing a redundant connection to your SAN hardware. The downside to the BL40p is its size: only two blades per each 6U chassis, a total of 12 blades per 42U rack (two power modules are required per rack, taking up a total of 6U). But these blades do allow more servers per rack when compared with HP's 4U, 5U or 7U rack-mount servers. The BL40p also sports a hefty price tag compared with the BL20p models.
Why would anyone want to invest in the BL40p versus a traditional quad-processor, rack-mount unit? First, with the RDP management software, you get rip-and-replace functionality that you can't get with a stand-alone system. Also, the potential for less cabling in the rack is there. In the end, though, it depends on the interconnect options put into the blade chassis--for example, if the switch module is purchased instead of the patch panel.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
Maintaining existing network infrastructures often incurs huge technical debt before newer technologies are adopted over time.
Amid ongoing regional uncertainties, telecom infrastructure in the Middle East has expand to include terrestrial low-latency network infrastructure, which offers resilience and agility in navigating political complexities without relying solely on undersea networks.
