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Why choose a Thinkmate Blade Server?
SuperBlade offers many unique advantages that differentiate it from competitors' blade products and traditional rack-mount solutions. Customer benefits include maximum affordability, reduced management costs, lower power consumption, optimal ROI, and high scalability - and in most applications, blade servers even reduce acquisition costs.
Thinkmate Blade Features and Overview
Why SuperBlade™? With advanced product design and uncompromising quality control, SuperBlade provides the industry with a wide range of products that feature high-performance, high reliability and cost effective solutions. SuperBlade’s first-to-market server platforms offer fully optimized functionality and compatibility for mission-critical applications. All of SuperBlade’s technologically advanced server solutions pass a strict validation process, providing our customers with peace of mind so they can focus on growing their business.
Applying SuperBlade’s meticulous design philosophy to modular computing, the SuperBlade is a revolutionary high-performance blade server system featuring both Intel® Xeon 5400 / 5300 / 5200 / 5100 series and AMD Opteron™ 8000 / 2000 series processors. SuperBlade is precision engineered with the utmost in flexibility, high availability and reliability. Chassis management modules, Gigabit Ethernet switch modules, InfiniBand switch modules as well as 3+1 redundant high-efficiency power supplies keep the system running 24 x 7 at peak performance. Offering industry leading performance and density at a lower total cost, SuperBlade is the perfect choice for mission-critical enterprise applications and high performance computing environments.
Saving the Green With SuperBlade™ servers, you can help preserve not only our green planet, but keep red ink off your books with green cash savings. A SuperBlade server can save more than 100 watts over a traditional discrete 1U rack-mount server. These savings add up quickly when your SuperBlade chassis is fully populated with 10 servers. By eliminating the overhead in 1U discrete servers and using the high efficiency (up to 93%) power supplies, SuperBlade can save you $700-$1,000 per year in power* for your servers and even more when you add the reduced cooling costs. At the same time, you will reduce your carbon dioxide emissions by over 5.5 metric tons, the equivalent of planting 1.7 acres of trees.
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Best Density in the Industry per 42U Rack
Up to 40 processors (160 cores) per enclosure or 240 processors (960 cores) per rack. Supports current and next generation processors
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Highest Memory Expansion Capability
Up to 672GB DDR2 memory in 7U
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Outstanding Storage Flexibility
Hot-plug SAS or SATA
Two 3.5” SATA hard drive support
Three or six 2.5” SAS/SATA hard drive support
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Earth-Friendly Operations
Up to 93% peak efficiency for all blade power supply modules. N+1 redundant high efficiency power supplies in - 1400W, 2000W or 2500W options
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Fastest and Most Cost-Effective Networking
20Gbps 4x DDR InfiniBand switches
Dual 1-GbE layer 2 switch with 10 external uplinks
Dual 1-GbE pass-through module
Dual 10-GbE switches (coming soon!)
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Peace of Mind via Remote Management
Standard with a chassis management module (CMM) for IPMI 2.0 remote server management, Virtual media over LAN and KVM over IP capabilities
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Industry-Low TCO
Shared system components reduce deployment costs and downtime. High compute density reduces facility costs, saving space and money. High efficiency power supply reduces electricity cost.
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Thinkmate Blade Enclosures
Space OptimizationHoused within a 19" industry-standard rack, SuperBlade™ servers reduce server footprint in the data center. Power, cooling and networking devices are aggregated in the rear of the chassis which optimizes the required amount of space. Up to ten blade servers can be installed in a 7U chassis. Compared to the 10U of rack space that ten 1U servers would normally require as individual servers, the SuperBlade provides about 50% density savings with 60 servers and 24 switches in a 42U rack.
Cable ReductionThe SuperBlade™ server chassis enclosure greatly simplifies the cabling process by aggregating cabling of ten servers at once. Up to 90% of network, power, and KVM cabling required for ten 1U servers are reduced by moving to blade servers in a single chassis. These cabling reductions continue across networking, SAN connectivity, and management controllers. Reducing the number of cables speeds up the deployment of servers and helps reduce troubleshooting issues by presenting fewer physical connections to the servers.
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Thinkmate 10-Blade |
Thinkmate 14-Blade |
IBM Chassis H |
HP C-Class |
Dell 1955 |
| Enclosure Height |
7U |
7U | 9U | 10U | 7U |
| Max # Enclosure per 42U Rack |
6 |
6 | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| Max # CPU per 42U Rack |
240 |
168 | 112 | 128 | 120 |
| Max # Cores per 42U Rack |
960 |
672 | 448 | 512 | 480 |
Max Memory per 42U Rack
(DIMM Slots) |
3.84TB
960 DIMMs |
4.03TB
504 DIMMs | 1.79TB
448 DIMMs | 2.05TB
512 DIMMs | 1.92TB
480 DIMMs |
| Hot-plug 2.5” and 3.5” HDD Support |
Yes |
2.5" | No | No | 2.5" |
| HW RAID 5/6 for SAS HDD |
Yes |
No | No | No | No |
| 6 Hot-plug SAS/SATA HDD per Server Blade |
Yes |
No | No | No | No |
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Configure your 10-Blade Enclosure |
Configure your 14-Blade Enclosure | | | |
Thinkmate Server Blade Modules
The innovative SuperBlade™ touts enhanced system computing density leveraged from years of rackmount server design experience. Applying SuperBlade's application-optimized engineering philosophy, each SuperBlade™ module delivers true server functionality including up to four processors (in select models), optional InfiniBand mezzanine HCA, and supports either SATA or SAS hard drives.
To protect customer's investment, each blade module is fully upgradeable for future CPUs. The common system architecture ensures each blade is fully inter-changeable as well. Compare All Blade Modules >
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Intel® Xeon® Processors
The breakthrough performance, energy efficiency, and reliability of Intel® Xeon® processor - based server systems make them the ideal choice for all of your data demanding or standard enterprise infrastructure applications. Intel® processor-based servers enable businesses worldwide to do more and spend less—with outstanding price/performance and broad 64-bit choice across OEMs, operating systems, and applications. Reliable, efficient, proven performance. Why would you depend on anything else? Intel® Xeon® processor - based servers deliver it all. Put Intel® server technology to work in your datacenter. Compare All Intel Xeon-Based Blade Modules >
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AMD Opteron™ Processors
Uncompromised Design. Unprecedented Performance-per-Watt. Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors with Direct Connect Architecture deliver industry-leading performance within a consistent footprint, and power and thermal envelopes. Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors are designed for optimum multi-threaded application performance. We start with a native quad-core design – featuring four cores on a single die for more efficient data sharing – and add an enhanced cache structure and integrated memory controller designed to sustain multi-threaded application throughput. Quad-Core AMD Opteron processors provide outstanding processing power and can increase performance-per-watt to improve IT responsiveness while maintaining costs. Compare All AMD Opteron-Based Blade Modules >
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Thinkmate Blade Connectivity
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Chassis Management Module
The SuperBlade™ chassis management module (CMM) provides total remote control of individual server blades, power supplies, cooling fans, and networking switches remotely. System administrators enjoy the management ease and reassurance of continuous onboard instrumentation monitoring (temperature sensors, power status, voltages and fan speed). Remote power control capabilities to reboot and/or reset the server are available as well as remote access to the BIOS configuration and operating system console information vial SOL (Serial over LAN) or embedded KVM capabilities.
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Gigabit Ethernet Switch Modules
The Gigabit Ethernet switch module includes ten external 1-Gb/s uplink (RJ45) ports and fourteen internal 1-Gb/s downlink ports for connection to the SuperBlade™'s LAN interfaces. This layer 2 Ethernet switching module also has two internal Ethernet paths to the CMM(s) to allow configuration, management, and control of the switch and its ports through a browser-based management interface.
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Gigabit Pass-Through Modules
The Gigabit Ethernet Pass-through Module is a non-configurable pass through module that includes fourteen 1-Gb/s external uplink (RJ45) ports and fourteen internal 1-Gb/s downlink ports for the SuperBlade™'s LAN interfaces. This module also has two internal Ethernet paths to the CMM(s) for viewing module temperature and voltage (but not for configuration since all connections are fixed).
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InfiniBand Switch Module
The InfiniBand Switch Module is a switch-based, point-to-point bi-directional serial link system. It provides high-speed interconnectivity among the blade modules and to external InfiiniBand peripherals. The InfiniBand switch supports 4X DDR connections – 20 gigabits per second – the fastest currently offered in the industry.
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SuperBlade Gigabit Ethernet Switch with 10Gb Uplinks
The SBM-GEM-X2C is a new Blade switch which offers Layer 3 Ethernet switching capability and 10Gbps Uplinks (up to three). The SBM-GEM-X2C offers Cabling Flexibility, longer cable length with SFP+ Fiber Optic (up to 300m), and less expensive cable for shorter distance with CX4 Copper.
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10-Gigabit Ethernet Pass-Through Module
The SMB-XEM-002 is a 10-Gigabit Ethernet Pass-Through module for the SuperBlade offering 14 x Internal 10Gbps connections to the blades and 14 x External 10Gbps uplink connections. It provides a third Ethernet link capability from the Blade by making use of the AOC-IBH-003 InfiniBand mezzanine card.
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InfiniBand Mezanine HCA Cards
For any blade to access the InfiniBand module, it must have an InfiniBand mezzanine HCA card installed on its mainboard. The AOC-IBH-001, AOC-IBH-002, and AOC-IBH-003 mezzanine cards provide this 20Gbps connectivity (4x DDR) through the backplane to the InfiniBand switch module.
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Thinkmate Blade Accessories
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OfficeBlade™ Rack Cabinet
Offering mobility, protection, and security, the OfficeBlade™ Rack Cabinet is ideal for Office Application/Environment or Personal Supercomputing. 14U of mobile rack space allows for support of up to 2 x 7U blade servers or 1 x 7U blade and 7U IT space. The OfficeBlade™ Rack Cabinet is the same height as your regular furniture (30.64" Height) to fit easily into your office environment. A rear frame moounting space means that this cabinet is easily accessible and upgradeable but a front door lock ensures that your hardware is safe from unwelcomed hands. Rack casters with brakes make this rack easily mobile.
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Spare SuperBlade™ Power Supply
One of the biggest benefits of moving to a blade environment is the relocation of power supplies and fans into a single chassis versus an individual set in each server. This greatly helps reduce the power requirements on a per server basis.
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Thinkmate Blade Reviews and Awards
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SuperBlade™ Wins Best-of-Class Green IT Award
"Industry-leading performance combined with unmatched, earth-friendly power efficiency as well as our advanced S3-Blade architecture, make SuperBlade SuperBlade™ the best choice for all server environments seeking to optimize both performance and power consumption," said Charles Liang, president and CEO of SuperBlade. "In today's cost-sensitive market, our superior performance-per-watt blade servers help our customers save up to $6000 on electrical bills per enclosure over three years* and reduce their total cost of ownership (TCO). As the chair of the Climate Savers Computing Initiative (CSCI) APAC region, SuperBlade is strongly committed to the CSCI mission to reduce worldwide computer power consumption 50 percent by 2010. With that goal in mind, our DatacenterBlade™ systems typically consume only 160 watts/DP blade under an average Internet Search Engine workload. This energy reduction coupled with the savings from reduced cooling costs, translates into tens of millions of dollars savings for large data centers*."
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CRN Magazine - SuperBlade OfficeBlade Scorecard
"Super Micro provided us with a blade chassis and four two-way Intel (NSDQ:INTC) Xeon L5420 processors, each at 2.5GHz and 8 Gbytes of memory. The system was built with four power supplies. It is a nifty, 7U-chassis design and the system itself is easy to take apart, put together, install and deploy. The servers scored an average of 6,530 using Geekbench's 32-bit testing, and 2,486.5 using Passmark's 64-bit performance testing. With all four blades operating, the system consumed 406 watts—nicely energy-efficient. It was quiet, too, producing 65 decibels of noise in the front and 69 decibels at the back. It was only slightly above the ambient noise in our lab, and it was much less quiet than our editors when we miss deadline. "
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