IBM BladeCenter for Telecom Industry Announced

Enterprise Networks & Servers, Apr 2004

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IBM has announced the IBM eServer BladeCenter T, an extension of IBM's BladeCenter family of products designed for the telecom industry.

The BladeCenter T systems are both Network Equipment Building System 3 (NEBS 3) and European Telecommunications Standard Industry (ETSI) certified. 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.

All IBM blade servers, switches and modules are designed to operate in either the existing BladeCenter chassis or in the new BladeCenter T. The new system chassis design incorporates 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.

"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. 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 ... 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."

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.

The IBM eServer BladeCenter T systems will be available June 25.