IBM Introduces Inexpensive Switch, Services for Blade Servers

Published: May 15, 2006

by Timothy Prickett Morgan

To make its BladeCenter blade servers more appealing to small businesses, IBM has introduced a new lower-cost Gigabit Ethernet switch that tucks into the BladeCenters, which costs $999.

This switch, which IBM calls the Server Connectivity Module, is supported on the Xeon-based HS20 blades and the Opteron-based LS20 blades. It plugs into the backplane of BladeCenter chassis and provides internal links to 14 blade servers and can provide connectivity with up to six groups of servers with dedicated uplinks. The new GigE switch is a lot less expensive than the other BladeCenter switches, which cost $5,000 or more.

To help customers deploy BladeCenters, IBM has launched a "jump start service" that gives customers who shell out $6,999 a team of IBM technicians over three days who will do the transition from rack or tower servers to the BladeCenters for customers. IBM is selling this service directly and through its resellers, who are getting a $500 rebate through the end of June to push this service. (Knowing that, make resellers share with you, people.) According to Matt Wineberg, worldwide product manager for the BladeCenter line, IBM is also offering more flexible lease options though Global Financing that will allow companies to get their chassis and upgrade plans in synch if they want to without having to pay hefty penalties, or allow them to get them out of synch so they can upgrade faster--again, without the typical releasing penalties.