Introduction

Designed to be more efficient and economical than traditional servers, the Sun Fire B200x Blade Server further complements and adds to the Sun Fire B1600 Blade Platform. The Sun Fire B200x Blade Server--in conjunction with the Sun Fire B1600 Blade System Chassis, Sun Fire B100s UltraSPARC-based Blade Server, Sun Fire B100x single processor x86 Blade Server, Sun Fire B10n Content Load Balancing Blade, Sun Fire B10p SSL Proxy Blade, and other upcoming compute and specialty networking blades from Sun--can help you build flexible and scalable IT infrastructures that accommodate growth, utilize computing resources more efficiently, reduce time-to-market by shortening deployment cycles, increase availability, and decrease operational costs.

The Sun Fire B200x Blade Server offers the following powerful features:

• 5.33 CPUs per rack unit compared to rack-optimized one processor 1U servers
• Operates in the Sun Fire B1600 Blade System Chassis which offers integrated, redundant power supplies; up to two Gigabit Ethernet switches; up to two System Controllers; separate management and data networks, service indicator lights; customer replaceable and hot-pluggable components; and space for up to 8 Sun Fire B200x Blade Servers
• Simplified deployment for ease of use
• Optimized for rack environment through integrated switches and system controllers
• Optimized for integrated networks

Product Family Placement
The Sun Fire B200x Blade Server fits solely within the Sun Fire B1600 Blade System Chassis and is designed to complement discrete, single and dual processor servers by providing a platform that is easier to manage, service, and grow. The Sun Fire B200x Blade Server is also designed for throughput computing and is an ideal server for edge compute needs such as web services, content management and delivery, and grid computing.

Key Users
The Sun Fire B1600 Blade Platform is suitable for users who want to optimize deployment and management of services by improving resource utilization and maximizing efficiency.

The Sun Fire B200x Blade Server further adds to the flexibility of the Sun Fire B1600 Blade Platform. The Sun Fire B1600 Blade Platform offers you more choice and flexibility to design and deploy an edge computing infrastructure that is best optimized for your compute environment. In addition, it provides high-density computing power in a compact chassis with improved serviceability, environmentals, reduced cabling, redundant power supplies, System Controllers, Gigabit Ethernet switches, and failover capability, all at a low cost. Its inherent modularity and flexibility offer tremendous values to help accommodate growth, utilize computing resources more efficiently, reduce time-to-market by shortening deployment cycles, increase availability, and lower operational costs.

Key Markets
Designed for throughput computing, the Sun Fire B200x Blade Server is ideal for horizontally-scaled applications or distributed applications in areas such as:

• Enterprise Data Centers
• Financial Services
• Service Provider
• Technical Computing

System Architecture
The Sun Fire B200x Blade Server is a network-centric, industry standard x86 blade server that fits into the heterogeneous Sun Fire B1600 Blade Platform.

Scalability and Horizontal Scaling
The Sun Fire B200x Blade Server is designed to be an exceptional platform for hosting horizontally-scalable applications that are not dependent upon symmetric multiprocessing to provide increased performance in a multiprocessor environment. Horizontally-scaled systems achieve high performance by dividing the application load from the clients among replicated application instances, each running on its own server. Each Sun Fire B200x Blade Server is a discrete server that can run its own instance of the Solaris 9 Operating System x86 Platform Edition or standard Linux distribution from Sun (complete documentation, drivers, and installation scripts are included with each blade). Up to 8 Sun Fire B200x Blade Servers can fit in a 3U Sun Fire B1600 Blade System Chassis. Two integrated Gigabit Ethernet connectors deliver high-speed built-in networking services to each blade for communicating with peers and accessing additional resources such as storage.

Heterogeneous Platform
Sun Fire B200x Blade Servers fit into the Sun Fire B1600 Blade System Chassis and can be used in conjunction with the Sun Fire B100s UltraSPARC-based Blade, Sun Fire B100x single processor x86 Blade, the Sun Fire B10n Content Load Balancing Blade, the Sun Fire B10p SSL Proxy Blade, and all future SPARC/x86/specialty networking blades designed for the Sun Fire B1600 Blade Platform. All current and future general-purpose compute blades will be compatible with Sun Java Studio and Sun Java Enterprise System software, allowing you to optimize for Sun Java application requirements and match growing business needs.

Blade System Chassis
The Sun Fire B1600 Blade System Chassis supports up to two optionally-redundant System Controllers for administration and monitoring, and provides a private and secure interface for system and service management. In addition, the chassis includes up to two optionally-redundant, Gigabit Ethernet switches for flexible VLAN configurations, offers connectivity to data networks, and provides a secure bridge between the Blade Server chassis and external management networks. The Sun Fire B1600 Blade Platform helps enable a network architecture design that supports redundancy at higher levels than the chassis. Individual or groups of blades can be made redundant through load balancing, providing a simplicity that lets you meet stringent service level requirements more easily.

Systems Management
The management of the Sun Fire B1600 Blade System Chassis and Sun Fire blades operates at several levels:

• Blade and Shelf Level Setup and Configuration
  Browser-based Graphical User Interface (GUI) interfaces and comprehensive, industry-standard Command Line Interfaces (CLIs) are available for configuring the switches and the other shelf components. This functionality extends to VLAN configuration, user administration, fault diagnosis, and repair.
   
• Monitoring of Blade Servers and Shelf Components
  Using industry-standard Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), it is possible to integrate Sun Fire blades into any compatible customer monitoring environment.
  • Monitor and report hardware and environmental status
  • Aggregate interface for replacing and restarting CRUs
  • Inventory physical components of a group of blades
     
• Sun N1 System Management
  The N1 Provisioning Server 3.0 Blades Edition from Sun dramatically lowers total cost of ownership. At the chassis level, Sun's N1 System Management will simplify initial setup, configuration, and deployment of blades. With multiple shelves (rack level), the Administrator can deploy applications, provision blades, and aggregate firmware and software updates.