IBM BladeCenter vs.

HP c-Class
The bullet points highlight IBM BladeCenter advantages (+) and disadvantages (-) over HP c7000 Blade system Text in red are authors comments -six core processors +Low cost Intel processors +24GB memory vs. 192GB +memory scrubbing +Hot swap drives vs. none hot swap +HW RAID std. vs. SW RAID +Light path Diagnostics +PFA on Processor, VRM, Memory PCI, PCI cards, battery vs. PFA on processor, HDD ,memory +Blade data and power connector redundant +2 Hot swap drives vs. none hot swap +HW RAID 0,1 vs. none standard +Light path Diagnostics +PFA on PCI, VRM , Battery -+PFA on Processor, VRM, Memory PCI, PCI cards, battery vs. PFA on processor, HDD memory +Blade data and power connector redundant PS701 Express vs. BL870c i2 +POWER7 vs. Itanium Tukwilla +448 cores per. 42U vs. 256 -128GB memory vs. 192GB density impacted 4 blades per c7000 chassis vs. 14 in BCH -4 x 2.5 hot swap HDD vs. Non-hot swap +Light path diagnostics +PFA on Processor, VRM, Memory PCI, PCI cards, battery vs. PFA on processor, HDD memory PS702 Express vs. BL890c i2 +POWER7 vs. Itanium Tukwilla +448 cores per. 42U vs. 256 +256GB memory vs. 384GB density impacted 2 blades per c7000 chassis vs. 7 in BCH -8 x 2.5 hot swap HDD vs. Non-hot swap +Light path diagnostics +PFA on Processor, VRM, Memory PCI, PCI cards, battery vs. PFA on processor, HDD memory

Chassis
-6U vs. 7U for BCS +6 blades (redundant) vs. 4 bladessemi-redundant +/-6 blades vs. 8 non-redundant +noise level. 62 vs 70DB -Tape blade vs. No offering +distributed disk blade vs. Dedicated disk blade Light path diagnostics also when power is off 3 step easy system easy set-up

BladeCenter S vs. c3000

HX5 vs. BL620cG7

HS22 vs. BL280c G6

BladeCenter E vs. c7000

+7U vs. 10U +Density. 84 Intel blades vs. 64 in 42U +Redundant midplane +Integrated DVD/floppy +Light path Diagnostics +Forward / backward compatibility -support for 10Gb Ethernet +2 blowers for cooling chassis vs. 16 fans -7 switch bays vs. 4 +14 blades redundant vs. 8 blades semi redundant

+Support for 130Wat processors +support for VLP memory +memory mirror +2 HS drives vs. none hot swap +RAID 0,1 standard vs. SW RAID 2 PCIe expansion slots vs. 1 +UEFI and support for legacy BIOS +Light path diagnostics +PFA on Processor, VRM, Memory PCI, PCI cards, battery vs. PFA on processor, HDD memory +Blade data and power connector redundant

+Scalable 2-4 sockets +14 x 2-socket vs. 7 x 2-socket +Scalable memory for cheaper configurations -256GB-640GB MAX5 vs. 1TB(32GB) -Hot swap drives 2 x 2.5 +Support for 1.8 SSD vs. 2.5 +/-10Gb LOM Flex Fabric vs 1Gb LOM(HX5 HX5 offers choice and openness for virtual and converged I/O +Blade data and power connector Redundant vs. blade data only

Cell Blades

No offering from HP

HX5 vs. BL680cG7

HS22 vs. BL460c G7

BladeCenter H vs. c7000

+9U vs. 10U --Density 16 vs. 14 blades +14 blades redundant connections vs. 16 blades non redundant connections +14 blades redundant connections vs. 8 blades redundant connections, with single path power +Integrated DVD vs. optional USB per blade +Forward / backward compatibility

+Support for 130Wat processors +support for VLP memory -192GB memory(16GB) vs. 384GB(32GB) + Blade data and power connector redundant +Light path Diagnostics +PFA on Processor, VRM, Memory PCI, PCI cards, battery vs. PFA on processor, HDD memory + Blade data and power connector redundant

+Scalable 2-4 sockets +Density 7 vs. 4 x 4 socket per chassis +Scalable 2-4 sockets +Scalable memory for cheaper configs -512GB (16GB) vs. 2TB(32GB) -Hot swap drives 4 x 2,5 +Support for 1.8 SSD vs. none -support for SAS/SATA +/-10Gb LOM Flex Fabric vs 1Gb LOM(HX5) -6 LOM vs. 2 HX5 offers choice and openness for virtual and converged I/O +Blade data and power connector Redundant vs. blade data only

QS22 cell Blade

Density 14 blades per chassis 32 GB memory Designed for use in graphic intense workloads and high performance computing applications. Technology targeted at: digital media, medical imaging, aerospace, defence, seismic computing and communications.

Expansion blades
HP HP SB40C vs. IBM SIO

AMD Blades
BL465c G7

HS22 vs. BL490c G7

No offering from IBM

-8 blades per chassis vs. 7 -6 drives SAS /SATA vs. 3 - RAID: 0,1,1+0,5,6 vs. 0, 1, 5 +Support for 3 I/O expansion cards

BladeCenter T / HT vs. c7000CG

+288 CPU cores/42U vs. 128 -Only support for the BL460c blade -10U vs. 12U -16 vs. 12 blade servers +Redundant midplane +Blade 32GB memory vs. 16GB only HP supports max. Two chassis in 42U

Intel Blades
HS12 vs. BL280G6
The HS12 is a low-cost small business blade. A good alternative to HPs BL280G6 for file and print etc. -1 socket vs. 2 sockets

+Support for 130Wat processors +support for VLP memory -192GB memory(16GB) vs. 384GB(32GB) +2 Hot swap drives vs. none hot swap +HW RAID 0,1 vs. none standard +Light path Diagnostics +PFA on PCI, VRM , Battery -+PFA on Processor, VRM, Memory PCI, PCI cards, battery vs. PFA on processor, HDD memory + Blade data and power connector redundant

BL685c G6/ G7

HP StorageWorks D2200sb

Unix Blades
PS700 Express vs. BL860c i2 +POWER7 vs. Itanium Tukwilla -224 cores per 42U vs. 256 -64GB memory vs. 96GB -2 x 2.5 hot swap HDD vs. Non-hot swap +PowerVM +Light path diagnostics +PFA on Processor, VRM, Memory PCI, PCI cards, battery vs. PFA on processor, HDD memory

Direct attached storage to adjacent blade Supports 12 SFF SAS

HP X1800SB / X3800SB

X188SB Upgrades the SB40cC to the SB600C. can also function as a low cost SAN gate way. X3t800SB is a gate way

HP SB460c File-Server Gateway

HS22v vs. BL490c G7

+Support for 130Wat processors +support for VLP memory -288GB memory(16GB) vs. 384GB(32GB)

For FC SAN iSCSI connectivity to FC SAN Win unified Data Storage Server pre-installed Supported users: 200-1000

HP Ultrium 448c /920c /1760c SB300c TapeBlade. LTO 2,3,4, 5

June 2011 This document is intended for IBM sales force and Business Partners

IBM BladeCenter vs. HP c-Class

IBM IBM GPU expansion blade
Supported on HS22 Nvidia Tesla M2070/2070Q Full length /Full height PCI Half length /full height PCI Full length /Full height PCI Half length /full height PCI 3 I/O expansion cards 3 hard drives Brocade 8Gb SAN switch Cisco 8GB fabric switch Cisco MDS 9124e fabric switch HP Virtual Connect 8Gb FC 24 port HP Virtual Connect 8Gb FC 20 port

HP

Links

BladeCenter literature Compare blade servers Competitive tool for IBMers Competitive tool for partners

IBM PCI Express Gen2 expansion blade

Infiniband
IBM HP
Voltaire 40Gb InfiniBand Switch Module HP infiniband switch module for c-Class

IBM PCI Express expansion blade

IBM storage and I/O blade

Competitive assistance

SAS connectivity
IBM SAS RAID controller for BCS IBM SAS connectivity module for BCS, E, H

IBM

MAX5 memory expansion for HX5

I/O modules
Ethernet
IBM
IBM 10Gb Ethernet Pass-Thru Module IBM Server Connectivity Module IBM Intelligent Copper Pass-Thru Module BNT Virtual Fabric 10Gb Switch BNT 1/10Gb Uplink Ethernet Switch BNT Layer 2/3 Copper and Fiber Gigabit Ethernet Switch BNT Layer 2-7 Gigabit Ethernet Switch Brocade Converged 10GbE Switch Cisco Nexus 4001I Switch Cisco Catalyst Switch Module 3012 Cisco Catalyst Switch Module 3110G Cisco Catalyst Switch Module 3110X

HP

HP StorageWorks SAS BL 3GBb Switch

FCoE
IBM
IBM 10Gb Ethernet Pass-Thru Module BNT Virtual Fabric 10Gb Switch Module Brocade Converged 10GbE Switch Module Cisco Nexus 4001I Switch Module Qlogic Virtual fabric extension module

HP

HP Virtual Connect FlexFabric 10Gb/24-port module

I/O Virtualization
IBM
BOFM BladeCenter Open Fabric Manager Virtual Fabric

HP

Cisco catalyst 3020 switch Cisco catalyst 3120 switch HP 10 gigabit BL-c switch HP GbE2c L2/3 switch HP 1:10 gigabit BL-c switch HP GbE2c switch HP ProCurve 6120XG / G/XG HP Virtual Connect 1/10Gb-F HP Virtual Connect 10Gb Flex10

HP

Virtual Connect FLEX10

Fibre channel
IBM
Cisco 4Gb 10-port and 20-port Switch Brocade 8Gb 10-port, 20-port and Enterprise 20-port SAN Qlogic 20-port 8Gb SAN Qlogic Intelligent 8Gb Pass-Thru Fibre Channel Module

June 2011 This document is intended for IBM sales force and Business Partners