IBM and Rackable available in the ICE Cube modular data center

http://www.blade.org

ARMONK, NY and FREMONT, Calif. — July 28, 2008 — IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Rackable Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: RACK) today entered into an agreement allowing Rackable Systems to offer IBM’s high-performance BladeCenter servers inside its ICE Cube™ modular data centers. The ICE Cube will be outfitted with IBM’s most rugged, high performance BladeCenter systems for harsh environments and demanding conditions.
As part of this agreement, IBM BladeCenter will be the only blade server platform available for custom ICE Cube implementations globally. IBM BladeCenter integrates servers, networks, storage, and business applications in a single, highly efficient system and is thus ideal for packing large amounts of computing power into portable data center environments.
The ICE Cube modular data center solution will be outfitted with IBM BladeCenter T or HT systems, which meet Network Equipment-Building System (NEBS) Level 3/ European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) requirements, so are ideal for use in telecommunications environments and carrier facilities (1). The blades are designed to withstand extreme environments where modular data centers are often deployed, such as remote construction sites or oil fields.

Very cool, any further choice we can have in the modular data center field has to be a good thing.

That as a customer I can choose an ICE Cube data center with either IBM or Rackable systems brings extra choice and possibly open up new markets, new configurations to meet specific customer requirements.

We need to continue innovation of the blade platform for the different target markets/end users, each having their own ‘barrier to success’ or operational constraints. The more we evolve the platform, the more we can illustrate the platform as a business empowerment tool, an enabler to achieving your objectives; grid, virtualization or hpc.