Servers
are the backbone of all the enterprise IT networks. Corporates run all of their
critical applications on them.
Today servers run applications ranging from specialized tasks such as
primary storage, Web hosting, telecommunications, file and print services to
application, and database hosting etc. There has been a steady rise in the
demand for servers as more businesses got e-enabled and began transacting
over the Internet. This has resulted in the evolution of Internet data centres,
which are also called server farms and the expansion of enterprise networks. For
buying a server, important aspects such as processors, brands and other
technical specifications need to be considered.
Today's technology behind
servers has made them more reliable, faster and more efficient. They can
support data backup and security, reduce data bottlenecks for easy
information flow and are scalable. Today, servers have become an indispensable
part of an enterprise network
ENTRY-LEVEL SERVERS
Entry-level servers are Based on the x86/x64/UNIX architecture, ranging from
single processor systems to up to 4 processors. For a benchmark, IDC defines
entry-level servers as those that sell for less than $100,000 -a broad group
that includes RISC (reduced instruction set computer), 32-bit Intel and
PowerPC-based servers; blade servers; and 64-bit Intel Itaniums. These servers
are able to support significant internal expansion of hardware and enterprise
can deploy most of these server types to provide their computing infrastructure.
Entry-level servers are evolving from an unmanaged, single-CPU server to a
more powerful, multiple-processing, highly available, and fault-tolerant
machine. Latest development in server technology for these servers have made
them more compatible to enterprise
needs.
Powerful features, such as memory mirroring formerly used in midrange and
high-end Unix servers, is migrating down as enterprise demand more value for
money. The compute power of an entry-level server matches what a midrange would
have offered four or five years ago. These servers, today, are capable of
providing outstanding performance in Web surfing and database transaction
processing and simultaneously cut costs by low power consumption. These
technologies include first failure data capture for, disaster recovery and other
relating contingencies along with operating system flexibility. They offer the
scalability, performance, reliability, and security desired to meet the demands
of e-business workloads. Ample storage capacity enables enterprises to run
powerful applications without having to buy additional attached storage devices.
Wireless administration is another feature of these servers, which allows system
administrators to manage it remotely using a handheld wireless PDA.
 |
EXPERTS PANEL |
|
Amod Phadke, GM
(enterprise business), Gigabyte Technology India
Avijit Basu, country manager (enterprise servers and storage), HP
India
Unnikrishnan KP, marketing director, Sun Micro Systems India |
High-end memory features such as partitioning capability, more powerful
and faster processors, hot-swappable memory, disk drives, and PCI (peripheral
component interconnect) adapters are becoming standard features on servers as
users require more capability for less money. Features such as hot-pluggable
power supplies and dynamic de-allocation of processors, chipkill memory, and
bit-steering that help lower the number of memory failures are becoming standard
options for an entry level server.
Entry-level datacenter class servers are economical and provide a secure
and flexible platform for expansion along with excellent serviceability and
reliability. These servers offer outstanding price/performance and are designed
to deliver horizontally scalable services and solutions. The application areas
of these servers have also evolved. Today they can be used for running server
applications ranging from file and print sharing, application development,
network security and management, customer relationship management, enterprise
resource planning to
e-commerce etc. Applications such as e-mail or databases, Web services, and
security applications are being run on them because these servers are reliable
and durable.
MID-RANGED SERVERS
Mid-ranged servers are based on x86/x64/UNIX - Designed for compute density
backed by enterprise-class features; 4–24 processors, 8–48 threads. These
servers offer full-speed connectivity with multiple GB Ethernet LANs, and
provide redundancy in major components for high availability and inclusion in
clusters. Small to midsize enterprise can leverage excellent performance from
powerful midrange server products. Midrange servers are priced at $25,000 to $1
mn.
Mid range servers offer a lights-out service processor and software for
provisioning and managing common applications. They also have partitioning
capabilities, which provides them with built-in flexibility to perform a range
of functions.
Midrange servers are ideal for those enterprises, which are looking at
consolidation of their application and computing resources. If the focus is on
cutting costs and buying servers just to run current applications, enterprises
should invest strategically in these servers to handle future workloads
effectively. Features such as virtual partitioning and self- repair capabilities
make the mid range servers reliable and highly secure systems that simplify IT,
while reducing costs.
Introduction of multicore technology and processors that extend the
functionality of 32-bit operating environments and applications has
revolutionized the midrange server market.
HIGH END SERVERS
High-end servers are Massively scalable, highly available servers designed
for mission-critical network computing; 36–72 processors, 72–144 threads.
With the advent of decent SAN solutions high end servers are gaining popularity
steadily They are now able to offload a lot of the storage overheads and can get
down to their primary function of high speed data processing. High end servers
or Mainframes are large and 'expensive' computers used mainly by government
institutions and large companies for mission critical applications. They have
hot-swapable power supplies, and uninterrupted power supplies all built in to
the machine. Most of these machines run operating system such as UNICOS, OS/390,
z/OS, or AIX UNIX. All mainframe operating systems are some derivative of UNIX
compiled to support the extremely powerful architecture of these machines.
| What
To Look For In A Server |
|
A
CIO has to keep in mind a number of aspects before deciding about which
server to buy. While investing in robust and reliable servers, one has to
check for various performance parameters, apart from the server specs.
Manageability
and Scalability are two of the most important aspects, a CIO has to
consider while deciding to purchase new network servers. One of the key
concerns of system administrators is the need to stay on top of their
server environment when dozens, hundreds or even thousands of servers need
to be managed. An ideal server must be able to enhance manageability,
while increasing availability. Few points to remember:
Total
Cost of ownership: The TCO for next 5 years should be calculated
before buying a server. An ideal server should increase return on
investment while lowering total cost of ownership. TCO should take into
consideration key factors such as power and space consumption, manpower
requirement and applications operating environments
Scalability:
An ideal server must have the ability to scale up to meet the expansion of
the company's operations. As a company grows its operations and
increases its workload, it becomes extremely critical for the server to
scale up to meet the demands of the entire workload. Scalability thus
plays a critical role in a growing enterprise
Reliability:
Lower TCO can be achieved by deploying a fundamentally reliable platform
designed with self-diagnostic capabilities and redundant sub systems. The
servers should be able to maximize availability and decrease downtime
Performance:
Provides increased performance and Increases efficiency of network traffic
while ensuring data integrity. The design should be aiming at better power
management
Manageability:
An ideal server should reduce the overall cost of system management. The
framework should hook to enterprise management solutions, to allow the
management of these servers to be integrated into the overall
infrastructure management scheme of the enterprise
Investment
protection: Should increase operation efficiency while eliminating
costs for porting applications and thus allow for investment protection
Flexibility:
based on open standards, they should provide flexibility to meet changing
business and application requirements
Serviceability:
An ideal server should ease maintenance, while enhancing system
availability. The server management services provided by vendors
are-infrastructure consulting and integration; operating system
management; database administration; infrastructure application services;
storage services, and maintenance services. The services desired by the
enterprises are-reduced costs, system performance, access to latest
technology, improved security levels, responsiveness, and speed of
execution.
|
CLUSTER SERVERS
CIOs today have one major objective and that is to convert the IT department
from being a cost centre to a valuable business component of an enterprise.
Today's e-business infrastructure requires information technology
solutions that can meet ever-increasing demands with high reliability and ease
of management. Enterprises want solutions that offer the scalability to grow
with the business, the flexibility to rapidly develop and deploy new services,
and are economic also. Clustering is the answer to such needs of the
enterprises.
Clustering is now being used increasingly as a cost-effective way to
provide high-performance, high availability computing for a wide variety of
commercial workloads. Applications such as business intelligence, engineering
design, financial analysis, digital media and petroleum exploration are using
clustered servers to achieve desired level of efficiency and performance.
Clustering is the practice of connecting multiple processors or servers to
cooperate on complex workloads as a single, unified computing resource. Because
it behaves like a single large resource, a clustered system offers many valuable
benefits to a modern e-business environment. Clustered systems combine the power
of multiple servers to provide high processing capacity and can tackle large and
complex workloads. Since the processing is spread across multiple machines,
clustered systems are highly fault-tolerant: if one system fails, the others
keep working.They can also span multiple geographic sites so even if an entire
site falls victim to any disaster such as power failure the remote machines keep
working. Clustering enables horizontal and vertical scalability without
downtime. This allows incorporating additional processing power without
interrupting business operations.
Companies are looking at ways to cluster smaller, low-end servers to
achieve performance and reliability that is equal to or better than expensive,
high-end boxes. Improved performance and reliability of low-end servers has
given IT managers an absolutely new perspective of looking at clustering. IT
managers are forced to do more with less in recent years and they have begun
buying more low-end, but more powerful servers. Enterprises can expand
horizontally and vertically adding more horsepower to the current servers and
more servers to the configuration.
Recently, cluster technology has grown to take a significant share of the
technical computing market. Enterprise user prefers to exploit the opportunity
of getting higher performance by combining multiple servers rather than build or
buy powerful special-purpose servers. Clusters are expected to currently account
for more than half of all technical computer revenue.
The rapid adoption of cluster technology is beneficiary for an enterprise
because clusters leverage improvements in industry-standard technologies thus,
resulting in exponential increases in component capability without any cost.
They are highly cost-effective in capacity computing environments.
Clusters are one of the most cost-effective solutions to problems with
highly parallel applications. The ability to quickly and easily add nodes to
clusters provides a simple
method to
increase capacity
in small increments. Thus,
clusters can help enterprise to manage the IT infrastructure efficiently and
effectively.
BLADE SERVERS
Blade servers can be defined as servers on a card. The strength of a blade
server is in the elements they share, which include the shared data pathway.
These servers enchance an enterprise's cost effectiveness as they save
valuable floor space, reduce the amount of cabling, and provide great management
flexibility. It also enables great scaling: Blades can be scaled simply by
adding cards to the existing chassis. The whole benefit of blades is that the
network elements can put side by side like books in a bookshelf.
Blade servers are gaining popularity in India and around the world. The key
driver of blade has been the driving down of total cost of ownership (TCO),
which is a major issue to the CIO and CTO. The reduction in cabling combined
with the simplicity of adding servers has been one of the main drivers for
companies with more than 25 servers to deploy blade servers.
Blades offer an economic and more reliable way to handle massive
computations based on parallel processing. It's an economic solution with
respect to space and energy consumption.
Blades are proving to be a boon for the industry, a technology that saves
space, boosts reliability, streamlines management, and ultimately, cuts costs.
Single servers can't match the degree of efficiency that blades can
achieve by sharing a common high- speed bus and U-mounted support component.
Along with letting enterprises take advantage of the efficiency and reliability
of clustered technology, shrinking a server to the size of an add-in card
permits impressive densities. Blade servers offer between 3–10 times the
density of conventional servers, along with substantial improvements in the
management and systems integration cost. They are suitable replacements for
rack-mount and standalone servers that are used in several tasks-from the
network edge to application servers. They can also be configured to include
load-balancing and failover capabilities. Individual blades are easy to swap out
a board with a new one in the event of system failure as they are hot-pluggable.
Moreover, placing servers near each other and managing them under a single
application can streamline administration.
New enhancements have been introduced for blade servers in 2006 for
boosting its networking features and flexibility. They include forward and
backward compatible chassis, expanded chasis, power PC chip, Intel's Itanium
processor etc. These will enable some blade servers transfer data at a much
higher speed. The speed boost comes in time to meet customers' demands for
consolidating the workloads from several machines into one to reduce data-center
clutter and bring down infrastructure and power-consumption costs.
Blade servers are a fast-growing part of the overall server market.
IBM's BladeCenter leads the market with 42% of the $419 mn spent on blade
servers in the second quarter, according to Gartner. The significance of blade
servers should increase, though, with sales of $9 bn in 2008–29% of the entire
server market, IDC forecasts
The chassis into which the blade server slides, simplifies the snarl of
power, management and network cables that protrude from standalone servers, and
it supplies shared infrastructure such as network switches and power supplies.
Blades are well suited to run business-critical applications and have the
potential of becoming an important building block for IT infrastructure in the
future.
Blade servers will benefit Service providers such as Internet Data Centres
(IDCs), telcos and large enterprise data centres tremendously. The use of blade
servers will provide modular and flexible capabilities and help organisations
respond quickly to changing business conditions in a cost-efficient manner.
Blades have been adopted by Indian enterprises and still others are in the
process of evaluating this option. With the increase in complexity of operations
and resource necessities of new enterprise applications, blades will look
increasingly attractive to CIOs who want to upgrade and consolidate their server
architecture, particularly in the Web/edge tier.
SERVER VIRTUALIZATION
The latest buzz in the server technology is server virtualization. It is the
masking of server resources from server users. The rationale behind the
technology is to spare the user from having to understand and manage complicated
details of server resources during the up scaling and maintainance. Server
virtualization allows an enterprise to 'scale-out' with a number of smaller
computers to address its growing processing needs rather than having to buy a
more expensive multi-processor computer. Server virtualization enables all
developers to share the same machine during developing or testing new programs;
provides the ability to support already existing legacy applications with the
new ones and the ability to simulate distributed network applications on the
same physical server.
| The latest buzz in the server
technology is server virtualization. It is the masking of server resources
from server users |
Server virtualisation can be utilized
to solve traditionally difficult problems such as security because segmentation
of resources can help in boosting serurity. With server virtualization,
segmentation can be accomplished by executing software processes on logically
separate virtual servers instead of the traditional way of doing it at network
level. Thus, a single server compromise may not impact the system as a whole.
erver virtualization also provides a cost-effective means validation of a system
patch or upgrade within a test environment prior to production deployment of
duplicating or imitating a large production environment. The virtual environment
can then be used to perform validation activities. As virtual server
technologies unite with storage technologies (such as cloning, snapshots and
shadow copies), traditional difficulties with backup and recovery scenarios may
be eliminated. It also makes the process of packaging remote test environments
economically feasible, thus the quality of software should naturally rise and
more tasks may be performed offshore.
MARKET INFORMATION
For the first time, the server market in India is expected to cross the
100,000-unit mark in 2006, according to IDC. The milestone will enable India to
supersede Australia as the second-largest server market in the Asia Pacific
(excluding Japan) region in terms of unit shipments. The big blue retained the
number one spot in the worldwide server systems market with 32.3% market share
in factory revenue while HP stood at the number two spot in terms of factory
revenue with 27.8% share. However in terms of unit shipments, HP came in at
number one position worldwide with 28.8% server shipment share.
Sonia Sharma
sonias@cybermedia.co.in
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