Dell takes balanced approach to blades

The M-Series enclosure and blades consume 19 percent less energy than HP's c-Class blades and 12 percent less than IBM's BladeCenter H models, according to Dell.

The servers are also simple to install and remove. The systems ship in a single box, and individual blades can be removed easily from the front of the enclosure.

However, Rick Becker, vice president of solutions at Dell, said that the vendor is not attempting to push blades to all customers.

"We are committed to blades, but our focus is on solving customer problems and using blades where appropriate," he said.

IBM and HP have been notable for blade server campaigns, but Dell has remained relatively quiet in this area.

Becker dismissed the idea that Dell has been lagging behind its competitors, claiming that supplementing existing hardware can be better than replacing everything with new blade systems.

"[IBM and HP] love to talk about blades and 'blade' everything," he said. " Dell takes a different view. You are not going to see us enter a blades arms race."

Becker also dismissed the idea of Dell's developing a portable blade system for small to medium sized firms to compete with HP's C3000 and IBM's BladeCenter S.

"Our customers are delighted with our SMB offerings because it meets their needs," he said.

"We are going to recommend the right solutions for our customers, and we think the right solutions are our rack servers."

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