The key features of blade systems continue to be the convenience of hot-swap modularity and chassis or rack-level server management, but previous generations of blades weren't substantial enough for larger applications. Four-socket blades are now available from Sun and IBM, but in 2007 most vendors have plans to release quad blades. This would make each blade the equivalent of a conventional 4U server, yet offer at least 50 percent space savings with the same computing capacity. This kind of performance will make blade systems a viable option for a wide range of core-level enterprise and high-performance computing applications.
Wall-to-Wall Windows
This next year looks to be the one in which Microsoft's Longhorn server and Vista desktop OS finally hit prime time, and the nearly five years of speculation, delays and hype will finally be at an end. Longhorn has been a ground-up redesign of the Windows kernel, and Microsoft's focus on increased security, simplified management and improved performance has to be tested against what may be the largest set of hardware permutations in history.
Microsoft has taken a lot of heat for rolling back release dates on these products, but it's a safe bet that if Vista and Longhorn hit the streets with security and functionality problems similar to those in earlier versions of Windows, both the press and the IT industry will be merciless in their scorn. In all fairness to Microsoft, with the rapid development of extended 64-bit and multicore systems, it has been forced to aim at a moving target. But if the company achieves its goals and Longhorn works well on release--we'll be sure to let you know if it doesn't--there are more than enough major system improvements for IT managers to seriously explore a move to the new Windows platform.
The cost related to system management has become the single greatest expense in the data center, and Longhorn will introduce a number of tools to make administration easier. Its Server Manager tool will replace the familiar Manage Your Server panel to provide a single point of control over server provisioning. System services can be added or modified using role-based templates to speed the process up and ensure that all the features necessary for the server's assigned task are available and up to date. Terminal Services have also been updated to offer single-sign-in capabilities and the ability to remotely manage at the application level rather than at the desktop level.
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