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IBM blade cuts a dash in server innovation

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Forget IBM Big Blue supercomputers - those behemoths seemingly capable of cracking any problem in the time it takes to say 'teraflop'. IBM is now throwing its weight behind a device with less glamour and less bulk but solid organisational benefits: the blade server.

The term may sound dauntingly technical but means something simple. IBM representative Paul McKeon explained: 'The thing about a blade is that it's essentially a conventional server but the common components like the power supply and networking have actually been taken out and shared in the chassis itself. So you can actually then accommodate twice the power and half the size in a blade.

'Essentially, you're getting double,' he said, reasoning that this meant a sprawling server farm could be consolidated into a few super-dense racks. He added that the slick design of blades meant they could be installed or replaced quickly, if necessary.

'With normal servers, you've got network cables coming out the back. You've got video and mouse cables coming out the back - it's a more complicated task to set those up than this,' he said. He then demonstrated the process of installing a blade server, which resembles slotting a cassette into a VCR recorder.

Trialled at last year's American Open tennis tournament, the company's blade servers proved such a success that they were then used at 'the Grand Slam of the Asia Pacific region': the 2004 Australian Open.

The blade servers enabled real-time scoring software which distributed facts about matches on to on-court scoreboards, graphics systems for broadcasters, the Open's intranet, closed-circuit TV, electronic kiosks and official website (www.AustralianOpen.com) allowing tennis addicts to learn about every ace and double fault, among other facts.

One of the most intriguing details revealed was that, when Russia's Marat Safin knocked out Andre Agassi on January 29, Agassi had actually notched up more points: 171 against 170.

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