Compaq ProLiant BL e-Class System Overview and Planning

Compaq ProLiant BL e-Class System Overview and Planning 3
Introduction
The purpose of this white paper is to give an overview of the Compaq ProLiant BL e-Class
system: the first power-efficient, ultra-dense edge server blades engineered for the enterprise. The
paper is divided into two sections:
Overview of the system components
Planning the system environment
Note: The ProLiant BL line also contains the ProLiant BL p-Class system architecture.
However, this paper will focus on the ProLiant BL e-Class system architecture only. For
information regarding the ProLiant BL p-Class system architecture please see the ProLiant
BL p-Class System Overview and Planning white paper.
The build-out of Internet infrastructure and the trend to scale out within the data center have
created the need for businesses to deploy greater numbers of servers, particularly for edge-of-the-
network applications such as Web serving, media streaming, load balancing, caching, and firewall
protection. However, adding servers increases operating costs, requires more power and space,
and makes system administration more complex. As a result, requirements for IT staffing, floor
space, and power are exceeding available resources.
Compaq has addressed these trends by developing a complete portfolio of modular, blade servers:
the new ProLiant BL Line. The ProLiant BL Line is specifically designed to address the needs of
space-constrained enterprises and service providers for increased server density, rapid
deployment and provisioning, and remote manageability.
ProLiant BL servers are optimized for use with the Compaq Rapid Deployment Pack enabling
automatic configuration and installation of operating systems and applications on tens or
hundreds of servers simultaneously. ProLiant BL server blades include Compaq industry-leading
technologies such as tool-free mechanical designs, hot-plug redundant components, and
integrated management functionality.
The ProLiant BL architecture is designed to protect customer investments in two important ways:
Providing longevity of the ProLiant BL server blade and interconnect infrastructure
Enabling installation of ProLiant BL server blades in standard racks along with legacy servers
and storage
Compaq designed the ProLiant BL line specifically for customers operating in a multi-tiered
environment requiring everything from power-efficient, front-end to high-performance SMP
blades. Compaq ProLiant DL and ProLiant ML servers offer a wide range of industry-standard
solutions to meet customer needs. ProLiant BL servers are therefore not a replacement for
ProLiant DL and ProLiant ML server solutions, but a complementary addition to the ProLiant
product family, targeted at specific customer needs.