IBM Debuts Tough Blade Server For Telecommunications

IBM on Thursday unveiled a new blade server aimed at the telecommunications industry, a chassis designed to withstand high temperatures, earthquakes, lightning strikes, and other natural disasters.

The eServer BladeCenter T, a short-chassis enclosure that fits into 600mm racks, is certified to the Network Equipment Building System 3 (NEBS 3) and European Telecommunications Standard Industry (ETSI) standards, guidelines that define hardened systems suitable for deployment in wireless and telecommunications applications that demand near-continuous uptime.

All of IBM's blade servers, switches, and modules will fit into the new BladeCenter T design, said IBM. The chassis also incorporates new features, such as a Telcom Alarm Panel and air input filtering.

The base chassis, which will ship beginning June 25 at prices starting at $7,795, can be packed with up to eight two-way, Intel Xeon-based blades -- each priced at $2,629 -- putting a price tag on a fully loaded BladeCenter T of $28,827.