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Enterprise and midsize businesses are increasingly turning to blade servers as the platform of choice to deliver the next generation of virtualized appli-cations. Blade servers can yield significant cost efficiencies over rack servers while taking up a smaller footprint, consuming less power and providing significant advantages in terms of manageability, scalability and flexibility.

Shipments of blade servers reached a new high as a percentage of overall server shipments in 2012, according to IDC, which noted that blade adop-tion will continue to grow to support virtualized environments.1 A separate study by TechNavio predicts that the overall blade server market in North America will show a compound annual growth rate of 23% for the period 2010 through 2014.2

The growth in blade deployments coincides with expansion of virtualization. Despite flat budgets overall, more than 90% of IT leaders plan to increase virtualization initiatives in 2013.3 By the end of the year, approximately 73% of server workloads are expected to run in a virtual environment, compared with approximately 56% in 2012.4 More than 90% of companies are now using server virtualization at some level.5

The biggest question for most IT leaders is no longer whether to virtualize, but where to take virtualization next. The short list of next-wave virtualiza-tion initiatives for most companies includes some or all of the following:

n Driving continued cost savings through further consolidation, automa-tion, optimization and use of a common management platform.

n Bringing more complex and mission-critical applications under the virtualization umbrella.

Reasons to Consider Blades forthe Next Wave of Virtualization

1 IDC: Server Market Slowing Again, Aug. 29, 20122 Blade Server Market in North America 2010-2014, TechNavio, Jan. 10, 20123 2013 Virtualization Management Survey, InformationWeek, Nov. 1, 20124 Morgan Stanley CIO survey, cited in Big Data, Tables and Enterprise Disruption: Part 1, Charles Bonello, Oct. 22, 20125 Ibid, Footnote 1

2Top 10 Reasons to Consider Blades forthe Next Wave of Virtualizationn Deploying client virtualization initiatives to enhance IT con-

trol and securely enable new paradigms, such as BYOD (bring your own device) and virtualized 3D workstations.

n Building next-generation agility through self-service models for physical or virtual infrastructures, enhanced mobility, big data analytics and other strategic initiatives.

n Supporting new applications and business initiatives in the cloud, whether private, public or hybrid.

Whatever the reason for taking virtualization to the next level at your organization, one of the most important factors you need to consider is which type of server platform will give you the best opportunity for success. For any new virtualization initiative and for many expanded initiatives you will find that blade servers provide the best opportunity for a successful, cost-efficient, scalable and easy-to-manage deployment.

Indeed, blades have come a long way in the past few years when it comes to supporting virtualization initiatives. Vendors have addressed early challenges with I/O throughput, provisioning and management, to the point where blades deliver both a lower initial cost and clear advances in total cost of ownership (TCO), scalability and manageability for many workloads and application environments. This is particularly true of blades from the blade server and virtualized server market leader, Hewlett-Packard. HP blades utilize advanced management platforms such as HP Insight Software and HP Integrated Lifecycle Automation to deliver signifi-cant efficiencies in managing, monitoring and provisioning blade servers for virtualized environments.

So why should you consider blades for your next wave of virtualiza-tion initiatives? Here are the 10 top reasons.

3Top 10 Reasons to Consider Blades forthe Next Wave of Virtualization #1. Lower Your Initial Purchase Price and TCO For most workloads and application environments, blades simply cost

less than comparable rack solutions. Savings come from a variety of fac-tors: less network infrastructure and cabling; fewer optical transceivers (small form-factor pluggables); simplified management and provisioning; lower licensing fees and price per server; and reduced power consump-tion and space requirements, among others. In fact, if your greenfield virtualization project uses Fibre Channel storage, the purchase price for the blade infrastructure will always be lower, even if all you need is one server.6 In terms of TCO, IDC studied seven large and midsize companies and found that they were able to reduce their annual IT cost to deliver compute services by 58% by migrating to a blade platform. The compa-nies generated $1.4 million in benefits over three years, delivered a return on investment (ROI) of 316%, and paid back the full investment of the implementation in just over seven months.7

#2. Confidently Increase Your VM Density Consolidation and cost reduction have defined the first wave of virtu-

alization, but the task is not quite done. By the end of 2013, 60% of organizations will have less than three quarters of their production servers virtualized, so for most companies, there are still many applica-tions and workloads that could benefit from virtualization. By using blade servers for the next phase of consolidation and optimization efforts, organizations will not only save money, but also reduce power consumption, save valuable space in their data centers and simplify management tasks. Deploying a blade solution using the HP ProLiant Gen8 BladeSystem results in 40% less power consumption, 37% less space consumption, and 45% less setup and configuration time than with traditional rack servers.8 HP BladeSystem Gen8 with ProActive Insight Architecture gives you the ability to confidently increase the number of virtual machines per server. The system constantly monitors more than 1,600 parameters so you can proactively keep your applica-tions humming while keeping failure domains manageable.

#3. Clear the Path to Client Virtualization Like blade servers, client virtualization (virtual desktop infrastructure)

is another technology gaining momentum. By the end of 2013, more than 55% of organizations expect to be using client virtualization, compared with 44% at the end of 2011.9 In addition, more complex

6 Rack to BladeSystem TCO Analysis Calculator, Hewlett-Packard7 Business Value of Blade Infrastructures, IDC, December 20128 Ibid, Footnote 49 Ibid, Footnote 1

4Top 10 Reasons to Consider Blades forthe Next Wave of Virtualizationclient workloads, which benefit from a graphics processing unit (GPU), are being virtualized. This allows all the benefits that client virtualization brings to a PC user lower TCO and improved manageability, security, mobilization and utilization to be delivered to users who have more demanding and higher-cost compute needs. For example, HPs WS460c is a graphics-enabled ProLiant blade that over the past 10 years has been proven in multiple industry deployments. It now leads the industry in GPU virtualization with up to 64 GPUs per 10U enclosure, enabling users to achieve previously unattainable levels of performance at a low cost/performance point. One of the other things you will want in rolling out a client virtualization strategy is flexibility of choice in hypervisors. Citrix, VMware and Microsoft have all improved their client virtualization solutions, and HP has developed ProLiant blade-based Reference Archi-tectures for all three. Also, the latest generation of blade servers from HP includes the new HP Proactive Care Services to seamlessly keep drivers and firmware up to date for maximum uptime. HP ProLiant Gen8 blades also enable customers to choose from among Citrix XenDesktop, Microsoft Hyper-V, VMware View and KVM. According to IDC, more than one-third of hypervisors installed in the third quarter of 2012 were installed on a ProLiant server.10

#4. Virtualize More Complex Applications One of the characteristics that will define the next generation of virtu-

alization initiatives is the movement of more complex mission-critical applications to virtualized environments. Many organizations have been hesitant to move their most critical applications to virtualized environments for fear of performance issues. But the success of virtual-ization has obviated many of those fears, so virtualizing complex, enterprise-wide applications is now a possibility. Blade servers make that possibility even more realistic. Applications within an organization tend not to be very homogeneous, running with different processor, memory, storage and networking functions. The modularity of blades allows each blade server and chassis to be configured with differing processor, memory storage and networking requirements to fit the de-mands of virtualized environments. For example, some workloads may require the low-latency networking that InfiniBand and Fibre Channel deliver, while others may need the low-cost storage that can be achieved only with direct-attached disks. HP BladeSystem offers the most complete server, bladed storage and networking options in the industry.

10 WW IDC ISS CQ312 Virtualization Market Share Report

5Top 10 Reasons to Consider Blades forthe Next Wave of Virtualization #5. Consolidate Your Databases Database sprawl has become a problem for many organizations and

is a roadblock to enabling business agility. Using Oracle as an example, whether you run a single instance or a Real Application Cluster (RAC), an HP unified solution enables advantages in cost-efficiencies, time savings in deployment and management, and the ability to move re-sources on the fly to meet changing business needs. HP has engineered purpose-built Oracle Unified Database Reference Architectures that are based on thousands of hours of testing and customer-proven best practices for Oracle. They enable you to consolidate a large number of databases with one high-performance virtualized environment and reduce deployment time from weeks to hours. In addition, the ability to quickly add resources where needed can result in performance gains of 50% to 70%. Memory performance and memory scaling are critical, and testing has shown that the two- or four-socket servers (based on workload requirements) are the ideal platforms for Oracle. HPs Unified Database Reference Architectures are based on HP BladeSystem with Virtual Connect and 3PAR storage. The unified architectures deliver scalability, high performance, reduced complexity, easier management and integrated, high-performance tiered storage. The Reference Archi-tecture paper includes purpose-built configurations for Entry-Level (for a single database or multiple application databases), Medium (supporting several database stacks, each with several thousand users), and Large (for very large database requirements or multiple consolidated database applications). All of the Reference Architectures can scale, enabling you to leverage your investment.

#6. Flatten Your Networks Virtualization brings with it increased server-to-server communications

traffic. This means that you need a blade infrastructure that both simpli-fies the server edge and allows servers to communicate with each other without leaving the chassis. With HP BladeSystems Virtual Connect technology, you can eliminate an entire layer of Ethernet switches, and if you choose HPs innovative 3PAR storage, you can eliminate Fibre Channel switches altogether. You can just connect up to 48 BladeSystem enclosures directly to the 3PAR array. Be aware of blade server vendors that charge a per-switch port fee to turn on switch ports, as this can be an astronomical hidden cost.

#7. Simplify Management Blade servers are simpler and less expensive to install, maintain and

manage than traditional rack servers. By moving to HP BladeSystem server blades, organizations in an IDC study cut ongoing operating

6Top 10 Reasons to Consider Blades forthe Next Wave of Virtualizationexpenses by 64%, freeing IT staff to work on more strategic initiatives.11 Blades feature common management of all components within the enclosure, which makes it simpler to provision new servers, add auto-mation to your data center, keep servers up and running, and share resources in a virtualized environment.

#8. Enable the Cloud Virtualization is the foundation for cloud-based initiatives, enabling the

sharing of resources and optimization of technology investments. With solutions such as the HP CloudSystem Matrix, organizations can take ad-vantage of the HP BladeSystem architecture to build a self-service portal for quick auto-provisioning with lifecycle management to optimize infrastructure, manage resource pools and help ensure uptime. For example, when HPs Matrix Operating Environment software is added to an HP BladeSystem, companies can automate the temporary redeploy-ment of physical and virtual servers for a given task. This could be for functions as diverse as an end-of-month close or for taking consolidation to the next level by making shared pools of servers, storage and network-ing available for on-the-fly repurposing. The open approach of HP CloudSystem Matrix supports integrated heterogeneous storage and networking environments, providing a unified end-to-end experience. The built-in lifecycle management function reduces TCO by up to 56%.12

#9. Enhance Business Agility Business agility is at the top of the list of goals for most IT departments.

Forrester Research has called business agility the central business issue of our times.13 In virtualized environments, blades deliver a wide range of benefits to enhance agility: Lower TCO improves agility by freeing dollars for other initiatives; reduced management overhead improves agility by freeing IT resources; converged infrastructure improves agility by integrating IT resources and speeding the performance and responsiveness of the entire infrastructure; and reduced space and power requirements improve agility by making IT more flexible and cost efficient. With a blade solution for virtualization, your data center infrastructure will be more manageable, more scalable and more cost efficient, and it will take up less space and consume less energy. Your environment will be designed to support the types of next-generation agile business initiatives that are driving IT decision-making everywhere.

Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.

11 Ibid, Footnote 412 Optimizing Blade Servers for Virtualization: Improve IT Efficiency, Stop Server Sprawl, IDC, August 201113 What Should EA Do for Business Agility, Forrester Research, Dec. 6, 2011

7Top 10 Reasons to Consider Blades forthe Next Wave of Virtualization #10. The Future Is Now One of the important considerations in deploying blades for virtualiza-

tion is the reality that all of these key initiatives that are driving IT the cloud, big data, mobility, social media, BYOD and others are all moving apace and gathering momentum. In fact, experts are calling the confluence of these initiatives the foundation for the industrys next dominant compute platform, accounting for at least 80% of IT spending growth through the rest of the decade.14 This is not a time to be sitting on older technology or underperforming IT environments. This is the time to invest in the future and deploy solutions that cost-efficiently address todays most challenging business issues while positioning your company to take advantage of all the excitement that is coming next in IT.

Of course, it is also critical that you choose the right vendor when con-sidering blade solutions for your virtualization initiatives. HP is the clear market leader in blades, with the broadest product line that is supported by next-generation management and infrastructure platforms such as Converged Infrastructure, HP Insight Management software, HP Inte-grated Lifecycle Automation and HP CloudSystem solutions. HP ProLiant BL460c Gen8 blades can connect with any switch, unlike solutions from other vendors, providing a more open and cost-efficient platform for your virtualized environments. Learn how HP BladeSystem solutions can help your organization successfully deploy the next wave of virtualization.

14 IDC Predicts 2012 Will Be the Year of Mobile and Cloud Platform Wars as Vendors Vie for Leadership While the Industry Redefines Itself, IDC, Dec. 1, 2011