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IBM today announced the IBM eServer® BladeCenter T a powerful extension of IBM's industry-leading [1] BladeCenter family of products that is designed to addresses the unique needs and requirements of the telecom industry.
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ARMONK, NY -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 17-03-2004 -- IBM today announced the IBM eServer® BladeCenter T a powerful extension of IBM's industry-leading [1] BladeCenter family of products that is designed to addresses the unique needs and requirements of the telecom industry.
The BladeCenter T systems are unique among blade servers in that they will be both Network Equipment Building System 3 (NEBS 3) and European Telecommunications Standard Industry (ETSI) compliant. This represents the most stringent level of certification for the telecommunications industry. The BladeCenter T system is also hardened to withstand high temperature, violent shaking, lightning strikes, airborne contaminants, fires, and electrostatic discharge. This certification of disaster-ready toughness makes it ideal for wireless/telecommunications applications that require near continuous uptime.
All IBM blade servers, switches and modules are designed to operate in either the existing BladeCenter chassis or in the new BladeCenter T. This unparalleled system flexibility helps customers reduce the complexity of their infrastructures and is a key factor in the convergence of the network and datacenter infrastructures that is projected to be the next wave of innovation for telecommunications.
The new system chassis design incorporates many specialized telecommunications features such as the Telcom Alarm Panel and air input filtering. In addition, the system's shorter chassis depth will allow it to fit in 600mm racks. All of these enhancements to the eServer BladeCenter are designed to increase network reliability, ease system management burden, minimize total cost and easily manage tougher deployment conditions.
The new IBM eServer BladeCenter T systems can help network equipment providers and solution providers reduce the time and costs associated with developing and deploying next generation network applications for critical workloads such as mobile network infrastructures, softswitches for voice over IP and revenue generating network services.
In addition to meeting the demands of the telecommunications industry, the rugged design of the BladeCenter T will also stand up to the harsh environments found in several other specialized markets such as aerospace and military field operations.
"With the introduction of the BladeCenter T server, IBM is providing network operators with an easily deployable product that can dramatically decrease operational costs," said Jeff Benck, vice president, IBM eServer BladeCenter. "By leveraging our industry leading BladeCenter platform and introducing a truly modular architecture to the telecom market, IBM has developed a low cost solution that supports rapid deployment. At the same time, we have hardened our blade systems so that they also meet the rigorous durability required by industries such as telecom, aerospace and defense."
The BladeCenter T system will incorporate both the latest Intel-based processors and hardened operating systems such as carrier-grade Linux to give telecom service providers the ability to run applications and services in a fraction of the space lowering the overall cost to deploy and operate their infrastructure.
The eServer BladeCenter T system is an extension of IBM's existing development partnership with Intel® around the IBM eServer BladeCenter product family.
"Computing platforms based on Intel architecture help telecom equipment manufacturers and carriers reduce costs, while delivering enhanced reliability and performance," said Abhi Talwalkar, vice president, Enterprise Platforms Group at Intel. "We are pleased IBM is extending the BladeCenter platform with the introduction of BladeCenter T to meet the growing demand for high-performance telecom applications and infrastructure."
The entry of this new class of blade servers coupled with the IBM Service Provider Delivery Environment (SPDE™) framework further reinforces IBM's commitment to open industry and IT standards. SPDE is designed to give wireline and wireless telecommunications service providers the flexibility to introduce new, revenue generating voice, text and Internet services to their customers faster, easier and at a lower cost.
IBM also plans to offer expanded software solutions including IBM Director for systems management, IBM middleware and services that address both the Next Generation Network and Telecommunications back office requirements support for Linux with OSDL specified Carrier Grade Linux features.
IBM is the industry leader in blade servers offering 2-way and 4-way systems based on the Intel Xeon™ processor, and 2-way systems based on IBM's POWER™ processor.
The IBM eServer BladeCenter T systems will be available June 25 and start at $7,795.
About IBM
IBM is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. Drawing on resources from across IBM and key Business Partners, IBM offers a wide range of services, solutions and technologies that enable customers, large and small, to take full advantage of the new era of e-business. For more information about IBM, visit [HYPERLINK@www.ibm.com.]
[1] IBM is the number one ranked blade server vendor in the industry in terms of both revenue and shipments according to IDC's 4Q 2003 Server Tracker Report. Report issued Feb. 27, 2004.
The IBM eServer brand consists of the established IBM e-business logo with the following descriptive term "server" following it. The following are either trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States or other countries or both: IBM, the IBM e-business logo, eServer, BladeCenter and SPDE. All other company, product or service names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of others. Statements concerning IBM's future development plans and schedules are made for planning purposes only, and are subject to change or withdrawal without notice. Reseller prices may vary.
Intel is a trademark or registered trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.
Media Contact:
Chris Rubsamen
IBM Media Relations
[e-mail:Rubsamen@us.ibm.com]
(914) 766-4728
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