Blade Servers: May 2008 Archives
I cannot even relate the amount of excitement I've been feeling over the last 4 months, ever since I first heard about the new Dell M1000e chassis at a Dell Executive Briefing back in January. We were finally able to procure one, and in less than two weeks (really, the same lead time as ordering a PowerEdge server), a big box of sublime Dell goodness arrived at the Huntsman Hall loading dock this afternoon.
First, and we knew this was coming, the Dell chassis shipped in one box. Think about that. We ordered sixteen blades, which makes for a fully populated chassis. Sixteen servers with 16 cores and 32GB of RAM apiece. Shipped. In one box. That just blows IBM out of the water (and really all of Dell's other server equipment, 
too, if you think about it). Good job, Dell, on keeping the delivery "debris" to an absolute minimum.
We received the box 2pm, and by 4pm, it was racked and cabled for power. All we have to do is figure out the networking configuration, and we're off to the races!
Well, obviously there was more to it. A fully-populated chassis apparently weighs 400 pounds (look at the yellow warning sticker pic after the break). We had to gingerly remove all of the blades, power supplies, and fans, which probably brought it closer to 70 or 80 pounds, which is perfect for your average IT team to lift and rack into place. Thoughtfully, Dell included a few sheets of bubble wrap to lay the sensitive blade equipment upon while moving the chassis into place.
I was pretty familiar with the product, but there was one thing that caught me by surprise. There's a pull-out-drop-down LCD panel with a little thumb-pad that allows you to browse the various components of the chassis and do some basic configuration and monitoring. Total hotness.
We've got some reading to do, but by my estimation, we are 12 network connections away from being fully up and operational. Well, that and actually installing OSes on the blades, but that's cake.
Many many more pictures of our Unboxing Ritual after the break.
