Letter From the Editors Charles Smulders - 21 January 2002 This month Gartner looks at the server blade market. A server blade is in essence a server on a card and represents the next step in server miniaturization from the rack-optimized form factor. The first server blade products reached the market in 2000 from new server entrant companies such as RLX. Only recently have Tier 1 players begun to participate in this market, most notably HP at the end of 2001. The driver behind the server blade concept is users' desire to consume less space and power. The demand for front-end Web servers has been critical in driving this need, but in reality the market is only just beginning to understand how server blade products might be deployed and used.  Read more

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	Overview Building Business on Blades 21 January 2002 Jeffrey Hewitt Blades represent a disrupter in the global server market. Understanding the complexities of these systems and where their best potential lies will be crucial for both vendors and end users.

Blade Servers: Bridging Generation Gaps 15 January 2002 John Enck Blade servers represent a new model for high-density computing, but the first and second generations of blade products may not be right for mainstream enterprises.		Variations in System Vendors' Blade Products and Strategies 15 January 2002 Matthew Boon   Karen Benson   Phillip Sargeant   Samina Malik   Jennifer Wu Blade servers can become successful, but it is important that the hype does not cloud the reality. For some end users, blade server adoption should occur as soon as possible.
Blade Server Forecast 11 January 2002 Jeffrey Hewitt The blade server market will grow in excess of $1.2 billion by 2006. Its growth will be limited primarily by a lack of standards and resulting confusion on the part of end customers.		Blade-Based Architectures: The User Perspective 15 January 2002 George Weiss Early blade architectures are likely to have optimized design points different from those of traditional servers geared for database performance. RFP evaluation criteria should enable users to see the differences and benefits of each.
Server Blades: Aiming to 'Cut It' in the Midtier 18 January 2002 Adrian OConnell Server blades are positioned primarily for front-end applications, but are likely to be appropriate for a broader variety of workloads. This may lead to customer confusion between blade and brick designs.		Server Blades and Storage: Toward Disaggregation 16 January 2002 James Opfer The disaggregation of storage and server blades, reflecting the ongoing trends evident elsewhere and the relative immaturity of blade server architecture, present opportunities for revolutionary changes.
Asia/Pacific: A Subregional View of Blade Servers 18 January 2002 Phillip Sargeant   Matthew Boon   C.G. Lee   Suzie Low   Vinod Nair   Jennifer Wu If the impact of blade servers in Asia/Pacific is not to be felt now, when and how will it?		Server Blades: Latin American Perspective 18 January 2002 Lillian Alvarado The introduction of blade servers in Latin America is expected to increase sales for international vendors such as Hewlett-Packard and Compaq.