Expanding Server Potential

All too often, technology is quickly outpaced by the some “newer, better, faster” replacement which is, in reality, only marginally improved over the previous model. It happens all the time with smart phones, as an example, but who really needs two cameras on a phone or a female HAL artificial intelligence? Over time, however, these small improvements add up to the point where one model is truly outpaced by a newer model. But with major investments, one can hardly afford to get the newest and fastest model every time a substantial improvement is made. When it comes to servers, the best way to plan for future needs while maximizing on the use of an older server is by planning for scalability.

Individual Scalability

The first aspect of scalability is that which applies to individual servers. When choosing a server for your business, you should always plan for future upgrades. Scalability comes in as we consider the question To what degree is this server scalable? If the server has two gigabytes of installed RAM but only allows for a total of four gigabytes, that server may not be the best investment. If a server allows for up to sixteen gigabytes of expanded memory, that is the much better choice. Individual servers with greater degrees of scalability will allow for the easy installation and removal of processors, memory, and hard drives, depending on your individual needs.

Multiple Scalability

When you are looking at expandability for multiple server configurations, you will want to look at the scalability for multiple units. Tower servers are generally good for small businesses and operations. However, multiple tower servers wouldn’t be optimized for larger businesses. Tower servers are generally standalone units. The best choices for larger-scale deployments are rack servers and blade servers. Rack servers are those which are self-contained units but which are placed in rack mounts. These are the most common choice for scalability; as multiple servers are required, each can be individually scaled, and the entire compliment of servers can be scaled as a whole. Blade servers consist of one large blade chassis which supplies both power and cooling to the individual blades. The “blades” have all the components of the actual server, and are a great choice for scalability as you can engage only a single blade or several depending on your business needs.

Within rack and blade mounting, individual scalability holds true. However, planning for future expansion demands you be mindful of how server deployments will work. Both racks and blade chassis configurations have a limit to the servers they can support. However, expansion options are available. The IBM I-series, for example, allows for expansion drawers for additional scalability. With the addition of a 5796-8203 expansion drawer, the potential of the IBM system is expanded beyond its maximum individual configuration. If you don’t want your server(s) to be passed up and rendered useless, you must plan to upgrade individual servers. Additionally, you must allow for multiple server expansions. Allowing for such growth will ensure your investment yields the greatest benefits.