Blade Servers: February 2008 Archives

I like to visit Dell's website and "thumb" through their online catalog of desktops, laptops, and servers, because, well, it's FUN!  ****

But also because it helps me stay on-top of what the "state-of-the-art" is for those products, and maintain that operational vocabulary of various vendors' product roadmaps.

Yesterday, I was configuring a new Dell M600 series Blade, their 10G blades that I mentioned  in a previous post, and I came across a dizzying list of processor choices:

• Quad Core Intel® Xeon® E5405, 2x6MB Cache, 2.0GHz, 1333MHz FSB
• Quad Core Intel® Xeon® E5410, 2x6MB Cache, 2.33GHz, 1333MHz FSB
• Quad Core Intel® Xeon® E5420, 2x6MB Cache, 2.5GHz, 1333MHz FSB
• Quad Core Intel® Xeon® E5430, 2x6MB Cache, 2.66GHz, 1333MHz FSB
• Quad Core Intel® Xeon® E5440, 2x6MB Cache, 2.83GHz, 1333MHz FSB
• Quad Core Intel® Xeon® E5450, 2x6MB Cache, 3.0GHz, 1333MHz FSB
• Quad Core Intel® Xeon® X5460, 2x6MB Cache, 3.16GHz, 1333MHz FSB
• Quad Core Intel® Xeon® E5310, 2x4MB Cache, 1.6GHz, 1066MHz FSB
• Quad Core Intel® Xeon® L5335, 2x4MB Cache, 2.0GHz, 1333MHz FSB
• Quad Core Intel® Xeon® E5345, 2x4MB Cache, 2.33GHz, 1333MHz FSB
• Dual Core Intel® Xeon® 5130; 4MB Cache, 2.0GHz, 1333MHZ FSB
• Dual Core Intel® Xeon® 5148LV, 4MB Cache, 2.33GHz, 1333MHz FSB

Arguably, the CPU has the largest power footprint of any other component in a server.  When your power envelope is as emaciated as it has to be in an ultra-dense blade-chassis, then every last watt has to be accounted for.  And, generally speaking, heat-output is directly proportional to power-draw, you have to take into consideration the cooling of those hot components (and not new hotness, either).

Can you make the informed decision on which processor above has the smallest power-draw?  Does X mean "extreme", a qualifier that Intel is fond of for their desktop processor line?  Does L mean "low-voltage"?  But then what about "LV"?

How about from this list of AMD processors available in the M605 blade?

• Dual Core AMD Opteron™ 2214HE, 2.2GHz, 2X1MB Cache,1Ghz HyperTransport
• Dual Core AMD Opteron™ 2216, 2.4GHz, 2X1MB Cache, 1Ghz HyperTransport
• Dual Core AMD Opteron™ 2218, 2.6GHz, 2X1MB Cache, 1Ghz HyperTransport
• Dual Core AMD Opteron™ 2218HE, 2.6GHz, 2X1MB Cache,1Ghz HyperTransport
• Dual Core AMD Opteron™ 2222; 3.0GHz,2X1MB Cache,1Ghz HyperTransport

A shorter list (AMD's latest server-class processors haven't hit the mainstream yet), but certainly no less difficult to decipher.  Is "HE", high-efficiency?

I had to dig into Intel's and AMD's web\sites to find out for myself.  I was right that "X" does mean eXtremely high power-draw; 120W for the X5460.  And HE probably means "high-efficiency", since the 2218HE only consumes 65W. 

The winner in my book?  Intel's L5335, an awesome 2.33GHz with quad-cores, and only 50W!

Dell? If you're listening out there, put a Watt-rating next to each processor choice, gosh darnit!  I shouldn't have to go to the processor manufacturer's website to figure out the power draw per socket.

Intel? AMD?  Sell your Greenliness!  Just call it the Greeneon and get that over with.

**** I'm not ashamed to admit it.  Dell's 10G Blade chassis makes my heart flutter whenever I see it.  It is beautiful and angular!  It is the new hotness!