BladeCenter system overview

Abstract

The IBM eServer™ BladeCenter® system was conceived in the fall of 1999 by members of the IBM xSeries® server brand technical team (at the time, called the Netfinity® brand). It was a new idea, and for some, too revolutionary to consider. After considerable end-user feedback, technical refinement, and internal discussion and debate, the concept was developed into a leadership server product. This paper provides a brief historic overview of the development of the architecture and blade servers, and a technical description of the BladeCenter system and technology.